Revenge is Sweet, Da-ze!
by DreamyLoner
Summary: Leon and Emil used to abuse his classmate, Yong Soo in primary school. Once, they caused him to trip downstairs and break his bones. Yong Soo disappeared afterwards. Years later, the Korean boy returned with an entirely different look and personality. He has also come back as an alpha, vowing to hunt Leon down. Omegarverse! KoHo. IceHong. WARNING: mind tricks, force, mpreg.
1. He's back!

**(1)**

When Leon was small, he was the adorable kind of chubby kid loved by everyone. He had choppy auburn hair and amber eyes. Fair skin. Little plump cheeks people loved to pinch. He was born in a decent family. His alpha father, Arthur Kirkland, owned a toys company. He spoiled his son excessively with trinkets and accessories. His omega mother, Yao Wang, owned a traditional Chinese restaurant down the street. He was slightly stricter in parenting, but he, too, pampered the boy a lot with food. Life was smooth and peaceful. Leon's parents were well-off so they could both offer him the best. He went to school with other kids. Met his best friend, Emil, in kindergarten. People doted on the boy a lot. He was reserved and enduring at first glance. Never spoke the unnecessary or countered his seniors. Always retained a cherubic smile on his face. Followed the rules superficially. Never failed a single test in class. He just knew how to please those around him.

But…

With every story comes a 'but'.

Underneath that endearing façade hid a slightly distorted core. Like every good kid has at least one nasty secret. Leon had many though.

His true self was the complete opposite of his facet.

There was this one Korean boy in class who stuttered in every speech. Never caught much attention from others and was always omitted in every class activity. He also had an unappealing look. He wore glasses with thick lenses. He carried around him an equally thick book. His oily hair was parted in the middle. His clothes were always frayed and dirty. Sometimes, a single sock might be missing. His lunchbox had nothing but kimchi and rice. His name was Im Yong Soo. He was a nerd forsaken in one corner.

A typical citizen from the third distract. A lower class. The filthiest kind of people, in Leon's opinion.

Leon had always been taught that society runs hierarchically. Even at an early age, his father had brought him to various social gatherings. He had met some of the most marvellous and affluent people. His family was among the best in the neighbourhood so they were always revered. When Yong Soo first joined the class, Leon couldn't help laughing inwardly. He had found the perfect target to abuse.

"Ill, this stuff tastes like shit." Leon scrunched his nose and held the lunchbox far away from him. The ten-year-old sat high on the teacher's desk and crossed his legs.

"What do you expect? People from the slums eat shit!" his sidekicks laughed simultaneously.

"Look at his clothes, Emil." Leon sneered and glimpsed his best friend. Emil had a head of silvery hair and pale skin. His amethyst eyes glinted with mischief as he joined in the teasing.

"He looks like he hasn't showered in two weeks."

"That's cross." Emil grimaced.

"Please…give me back…my lunchbox…" Yong Soo, the then shortest boy in class, stammered and tried to retrieve his measly lunch.

Leon flipped the lunchbox with a sickening snicker and poured all the contents on Yong Soo. The Korean boy widened his eyes.

"Now he smells kimchi."

Everyone laughed.

The empty lunchbox dropped to the ground with a thud. Tears trickled down Yong Soo's face. It wasn't the end of it though.

Two boys grasped his elbows and kicked his legs. He fell on his knees.

"Drag him here," Leon ordered.

"What're you planning to do?" Emil raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"I'm gonna, like, teach this lowlife what it means to be a dog." Leon tittered.

"No!" Yong Soo struggled futilely and landed in front of Leon's feet. His captors yanked his hair and squished his face.

"So you're new to class, huh?" Leon grinned, leaning forward to examine the hideous boy. "Do you, like, even know who I am?"

Yong Soo didn't answer. Tears kept rolling down his cheeks. He couldn't believe his first day to Academy H would be this catastrophic. What did this boy want with him?

"Clearly you don't." Leon sighed and shook his head. "I'll tell you then. I'm the head of this class. Everyone listens to me. And you, too, should obey me from now on."

Yong Soo frowned.

"I don't really like you, but I think you can be pretty fun to boss around." Leon smiled proudly and leant back against his seat. "Damn lowlife. Your family must be so poor they can't even buy you a set of school uniforms."

"S-Shut up!" Yong Soo cried, "D-Don't insult my family!"

Leon raised his left foot and trampled on the boy's head repeatedly, staining his face with dirt and mud.

"A dog, like, shouldn't bark at its own master." Leon smirked. "Guess you need to be trained more often."

"Let…me go, please!" Yong Soo whined.

"Leon, that's pretty enough, don't you think?" Emil gasped, tugging his best friend's sleeve apprehensively. "What if the teachers see us?"

"They won't. The room is locked anyway." Leon winked and glanced back at Yong Soo. The boy kept weeping.

"From now on, let's call him doggie," Leon announced. "Bow whenever you see us. You hear me?"

"No way!" Yong Soo squirmed free from Leon's grip and bounced up. He lunged at Leon. The boy dodged and spun around agilely, punching the Korean right in the face. He grabbed Yong Soo's wrist in the air and kicked him in the stomach. The Korean boy collapsed to the floor clutching his belly and coughed.

"And I've forgotten to tell you." Leon rolled up his sleeves with a condescending smile. "I know martial arts, so you'd better not risk your chances, doggie."

The gang burst into laughter watching Yong Soo whimper and crawl back up with broken lens.

It was only the beginning of hell.

For a year straight, Leon and his gang picked on Yong Soo every chance they got. The boy couldn't complain to anyone because no one would side with him. The teachers wouldn't believe a thing he said. Leon was the star pupil in class. He excelled in everything. There was not a single flaw about him in adults' eyes. To Yong Soo, however, he was a devil. A pure devil.

His pranks came in various forms, mostly consisting of incessant humiliation, physical abuse and verbal attacks.

"You said you were thirsty?" Leon cocked his eyebrows and simpered, "Drink all you need then!"

The boys plunged Yong Soo's head into the toilet and laughed.

They would force Yong Soo to run errands for them, get scolded in their place if they ever broke a rule, regard them as his masters. And if the boy ever voiced his objection, he would receive his punishment right away. He got beaten, burnt, smacked, punched, kicked and more. Leon once set his school bag on fire and dumped it into the reservoir nearby, burnt all his textbooks so that he couldn't revise for the test and had to retake it at the end of the semester.

No one realised the gang's doings. They masked their sadistic traits with innocent smiles and outstanding school performances.

The bullying soon met its end when Yong Soo got tripped and fell downstairs one day. Leon hadn't meant to render him with fractured bones and a twisted ankle. The Korean boy was rushed to the hospital and he never came back to school.

No one got reprimanded in that incident. Life carried on as usual. Yong Soo disappeared. Leon learnt about it later that he had switched to another school.

"There's, like, no fun now." Leon pouted after knowing that he had practically driven the poor Korean away.

"You know." Emil frowned. "What you did to him was pretty awful."

"Hey, hey, wait a second." Leon nudged Emil. "You're also involved. Don't you forget that, Icey." The boy smirked and pinched Emil in the arm.

"True but I never went overboard." Emil stuck out his tongue. "Be careful, Leon. Karma is bitch."

"Woah, that foul language of yours, love it." Leon laughed and nuzzled against his best friend's neck.

"Don't you ever feel guilty about it?" Emil giggled at Leon's nose tickling his skin.

"What?"

"About treating him like a piece of shit. I sorta pitied him." Emil chuckled.

"He's a lowlife. What do you expect?" Leon glanced up and pecked Emil on the cheek. "I bet he's a fucking omega. I swear if I see him again in the future, he won't get away that easily."

"I can't wait." Emil laughed.

* * *

 **(2)**

Karma turned out to be even bitchier.

When the two boys hit their puberty, they found out that they were both omegas. Leon lost the crown place in class because, as the hierarchical game goes, omegas have the least say in society. The world is dominated and determined by alphas. Betas come in second. The pure existence of omegas is to serve the purpose of appeasing and complying with alphas.

Leon was not pleased with the result but he couldn't change the fact that he could no longer exert his domination over anymore. Puberty induced drastic changes on his psychological parts as well. He lost the sense of arrogance he used to have as a kid. He grew distant from his past habits of taking pleasure in abusing others. Inferiority slowly washed over him.

He and Emil got into the same secondary school. Emil at that time had trouble evading crushes and persistent alphas. Leon's situation was slightly better. Despite the enticing fragrance he emitted, he knew tricky ways to elude alphas and hide his own scent with suppressants. It still didn't help that both boys attracted lots of attention because of their fame in the past. People loved to see others fall miserably. The two major past bullies were now reduced to nothing but members of the lowest level in this alpha-omega hierarchy.

"Fuck them all." Leon grunted and glared at his rejected application form. "I can't believe I'm banned from the running tracks."

"Well, you should've expected that, right?" Emil sighed glumly. "Omegas don't compete with alphas. It's also dangerous if you run along with other alphas. You know what Sports Day is like. We're just there to watch alphas battle over one another and show off."

"Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!" Leon creased the sheet and tossed it into the bin. "I can't believe we've ended up like this."

"Leon." Emil gasped at the tears surfacing Leon's eyes. "Are you alright?"

"What do you, like, think?" Leon bit his lips furiously and wiped his tears. "Those disgusting creeps in class won't stop stalking us and going after our asses. Damn it!"

"At least, we aren't alone." Emil snorted. "I know that the other omegas in class are also having a hard time. It's that season, you know. Be careful."

"Yea, you too." Leon shook his head in dismay.

"Do you think we should skip class for the time being?" Emil whispered.

"What? Skip class? Hell no, that's, like, surrendering to them. They'll, like, think we're cowards."

"But that's for our safety," Emil reasoned.

"I don't understand why we're the ones to make sacrifices." Leon scowled.

"Because we're now at the bottom of the hierarchy," Emil reminded. "We have to play with their rules."

Leon looked out of the window and didn't say anything.

"We acted like them once," Emil mumbled. "Remember?"

 **oOo**

"Did you hear the news?"

Leon stared at his cousin, Mei. The girl was a princess in class. In addition to flaunting her luxuries and beauty, she was the master of gossips. She once had a childhood crush on her step-brother, Kiku. The Japanese boy, unfortunately, was classified as an omega. The two often sought shelter in the library, where most obnoxious and hyperactive alphas wouldn't bother to go. Also in their little chat group was an omega blond called Matthew, whose twin brother was one of the most powerful and notorious alphas in the grade. He was luckily outshined most of the time. He could use that little invisibility to his greatest benefit.

Mei was combing her wavy brown curls in front of a small mirror she set on her desk. Kiku sat beside her, sketching meticulously some BL manga. Matthew clutched his stuffed polar bear and listened intently as usual. Leon rolled his eyes. Ever since he became an official omega, he had stopped hanging out with his previous gang. He and Emil couldn't fit in with the alphas. Even if they did step into their zone, they wouldn't get away without being scorned and sexually assaulted. There were about ten omegas in class. They had no choice but to start hanging out with each other. He and Emil both had to agree that among everyone, Kiku, Mei and Matthew were the only approachable and "normal" beings they could tolerate.

"What? Like, you got another prank letter in your locker?" Leon teased.

"No!" Mei glared at him, "That wouldn't be an interesting topic, would it?"

"How should I know? You're weird." Leon shrugged. Kiku giggled.

"By the way, you know Elizabeta from class B?"

"Yea, what about her?"

"She used to go out with Roderich."

"Uh uh." Emil nodded, uninterested. He stared at his puffin key chain and twiddled it.

"Listen!" Mei hissed, "And you know how she has another annoying childhood albino friend called Gilbert? The three of them used to be inseparable until Elizabeta and Gilbert fell out. It turns out that Roderich is actually an omega! He got into his first heat last week. Gilbert marked him!"

"What?" The other three boys gasped.

"Horrible, isn't it?" Mei shook her head, "Now Elizabeta didn't just lose her boyfriend to another boy, but also her nemesis! I heard she got into some serious depression a few days ago."

"Is that why she's absent?"

"Probably." Mei coughed and continued, "And I also heard that Gilbert's brother, Ludwig got caught making out with his mate Feliciano in the toilet yesterday."

"Oh I heard that from Feliciano-kun too." Kiku glanced up from his sketchbook. "He forgot his suppressants. Ludwig lost it."

"When an alpha senses the heat, his need becomes insatiable, or so I've heard."

They all turned to Matthew and studied him in awe.

"You seem to understand them a lot."

"You forgot who my brother is." The blond smiled sheepishly.

"Speaking of Alfred, didn't he get suspended fighting with Ivan two days ago?" Mei exclaimed, "I thought they made a pretty bad scene on the rooftop."

"Hai, I thought there was an earthquake," Kiku said.

"Kiku, are you going to accept Hercules' confession?" Mei asked. The Japanese blushed and returned to his drawing silently.

"At least, Hercules confessed in some decent manner." Emil peeked at Matthew, who lowered his head and sighed. "I think getting a bunch of roses every day is already nightmarish enough. Getting chased around the court by a naked pervert is probably something only you would experience, Mattie."

"Is Francis really that bad?" Mei grimaced, "I think he looks charming though."

"If he doesn't flood my phone with a hundred sexts each day and grope me that much, maybe I'll consider going out with him."

"Seriously?" Leon cringed in disgust.

"He can be sweet sometimes." Matthew nodded bashfully and fiddled with his bear. "I mean, he's not as nasty as some of the alphas in class."

"I guess you have a point." Emil nodded.

"What about you?" Leon smirked, "Thought you're having trouble with your dear big brother's friend."

"S-Shut up." Emil averted his gaze. He had a brother named Lukas, who was two years old than him. A reclusive, calculating alpha. Lukas' best friend was a stubborn, energetic alpha called Mathias. The Danish boy happened to have his eyes set on Emil.

"I'm trying my best to avoid him, really." Emil grunted. "He's so, so, so annoying. Even more so than Lukas. I can't believe someone like that actually exists on earth!"

"We call that 'tunsdere'." Kiku chuckled.

"What?"

"The attitude you've just demonstrated." Kiku cackled softly and continued sketching.

"D-Don't get any wrong ideas!" Emil put up his hands in defence. "I really hate his guts. His hair looks like it can cut someone."

"When you say it like that, it's so unconvincing." Leon sneered, draping an arm around him.

"I really thought Leon was an alpha at first." Mei snickered. "And that you two would be together."

"Well, life is full of deadly surprises." Leon snorted.

"It isn't that bad." Emil laughed and patted Leon's back. "We're still best friends."

"A new transfer student is coming tomorrow," Mei piped up. "That's what I wanna say in the first place."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Emil asked.

"A boy, I heard."

"An omega?" Matthew asked hopefully.

"An alpha. I heard he's one of Alfred's types."

"Fuck."

They all shook their heads simultaneously.

* * *

 **(3)**

"Class, we have a new student today. His name is Im Yong Soo. Please welcome and treat him kindly!"

Emil widened his eyes and quickly turned to his best friend, who sat a couple of seats away and in the back row.

"Shit, did you hear his name?" Emil mouthed.

"I know," Leon mouthed back and bit his bottom lip.

He stared at the Korean boy in bewilderment. His dark hair was gelled, leaving a stylish curl sticking out from the right. His face features stood out remarkably. Enormous eyes with coloured contacts. A slanted nose. His smile revealed his white, glinting teeth. As he waved, a couple of girls giggled and blushed. He wore a neat dress shirt and a pair of black jeans. His scent was strong and intimidating. Spicy. Like kimchi. He was definitely the type with bottomless energy and vigour. His grin alone could tackle a dozen. Mei was right he could be one of Alfred's buddies.

"Oh gosh," Leon cussed in his mind and hung his head. "Shit, shit, shit, this is hella wrong. Holy-"

"Well, you'll be taking the spare seat next to Leon." The teacher smiled. Leon wanted to scream.

He kept his head low and avoided looking straight at Yong Soo. The Korean boy walked slowly, taking the time to scan the classroom and smile at his classmates. Leon trembled when the chair slid next to him. Thump. The Korean boy slumped down and stared at him.

"Hiya, I'm Yong Soo da-ze!"

The mirthful voice startled him. Leon didn't look up. He scooted a little away from the overtly cheerful Korean.

"It's so nice to see you again, Leon." Yong Soo lowered his voice and leant forward, his smile unwavering.

"Y-Yea…it's, like, been a while." Leon forced a smile on his face. He wouldn't stop shuddering.

 **oOo**

"So, how do you feel?"

The voice was husky, the tone patronising.

"To see a stray doggie turn into a dazzling lion da-ze!"

"That sounds so cliché," Leon muttered. They were alone in the classroom. Yong Soo had waited until everyone else left to start their little "reunion chat". He cornered Leon and smiled.

"Your words are still as spiteful as could be." Yong Soo grinned. He stood half a head taller than Leon.

"Wh-What're you doing?" Leon blanched. He stumbled back until his spine struck the wall.

Yong Soo inched closer and kept sniffing the other boy. "Woah, incredible, my master has turned into a maid da-ze. You're an omega?"

Leon gasped. He leant against the wall and flinched from Yong Soo's teasing touches.

"S-Stop it," he stuttered as the hand stroked his hair curiously.

"Now tell me, did you expect to see me here?" the Korean boy leant forward, brushing his fingers along Leon's neck. The omega quivered and ducked.

"No, damn it! I wouldn't expect to see you in a million years! Fuck! I wouldn't be surprised if you were dead already!" Leon yelped.

"Really?" Yong Soo clasped Leon's hair and yanked it. Leon groaned. "Then surely you didn't expect me to come back alive and in this glorious state."

"Fuck you!"

"I thought it'd be the other way around, sweetheart." Yong Soo grinned slyly.

"What do you want from me!" Leon shouted. His cheeks were burning. Knowing it was one of his erroneous zones, Yong Soo pulled his bangs harder and lifted his chin.

"I'm sorry, okay? Sorry!"

The Korean boy frowned, "What for?"

"For…For…" Leon moaned. Yong Soo shoved him hard against the wall and ground his crotch with his knee. He couldn't believe this was happening to him!

"Say it."

"For all the horrible stuff I did to you in primary school…" Leon grunted.

"What did you do?"

"I…I couldn't remember," Leon mumbled. The other boy ground against his body harder.

"You honestly don't remember or there were so many things you did that you couldn't remember each clearly?" Yong Soo smirked.

"I…I'm sorry, okay?" Leon pleaded. He tried to wiggle out of Yong Soo's grip but hell, was the other boy strong. He accessed the chance of tackling him with Kung Fu but decided not to. Who knows Yong Soo might have acquired martial arts too over the past few years? If he could've come back as an entirely different person, he might now have strength and powers beyond Leon's ability to counteract.

"I was young. I didn't realise what I did was bad," Leon reasoned. "Forgive me."

"Oh clearly you did." Yong Soo laughed. He let go of Leon's crotch and smiled, "I still remember how you only treated me like that. You always played nice in front of others, but you and your 'good' friends never hesitated to fling me around like a piece of shit."

"Like I said…we didn't mean to- ah!" Leon moaned. The smell of iron filled the air. Warm, crimson liquid trickled down his neck. He panted and squirmed. Yong Soo clasped his wrists together and held them above his head. The bite was deep and harsh. Teeth delved into his flesh. He felt dizzy.

 ** _Thud._**

Yong Soo released him. He fell to the floor, panting and clutching the bleeding bite mark.

"Revenge is sweet da-ze." The Korean boy chuckled and stepped back to admire his work. Leon shuddered and sobbed. Blood kept pouring out of his little wound. They all knew what it signified.

"But that's not exactly what I've come back for." Yong Soo giggled and squatted down in front of Leon. "I've decided, Leon Kirkland." He brushed Leon's wet bangs and caressed his cheeks. "That I want you. You're mine."

Leon opened his mouth to say something but found himself blabbering instead. Yong Soo's lips smashed against his fiercely. The kiss was sloppy and suffocating. Yong Soo forced his tongue in and bit him hard. Leon clenched his eyes. Tears streamed down silently.

The Korean boy finally pulled away and licked the blood off his lips.

"Scrumptious." Yong Soo smirked and stood back up. "I expect the rest of your body tastes just as delicious, my sweet little pet."

The alpha snickered and danced out of the room.

* * *

 **(5)**

"So, what're you planning to do?" Emil asked worriedly. The two boys sat under the shades in the school's back garden.

It had been two weeks since Yong Soo got transferred into their school. The Korean boy had changed so much only his name was recognisable. He was no longer the bespectacled, short, nerdy boy in the background. He spoke confidently, his nose always in the air. And most definitely, he no longer feared Leon. He was a typical dominating alpha.

"I have, like, no fucking idea what happened to him in the past few years," Leon cursed and balled his hands into fists whenever he thought about the bite. The wound was still visible. He had covered it with a pad. It stung. It burnt at night. To make matters worse, his next heat cycle was approaching in less than a week.

"He's surely changed a lot." Emil had to agree that Yong Soo was nothing like the boy they used to prey on. "And he seems to be plotting something against you…"

"Yea, you reap what you sow, they say." Leon grunted and nestled his head on Emil's shoulder exhaustedly. "If I had known things would turn out this way, I wouldn't have hurt him enough to drive him away. He's come back for revenge obviously. I'm his sole target."

"Is there a way out?" Emil asked, perturbed.

"I apologised, you know." Leon sighed. "I think he hates me to death, which is pretty legit, actually. I really did a handful to him back then. He's probably scarred. Twisted in some way."

"He acts normal though, around other people." Emil scowled. "And he's quite popular among some hopeless omegas. Girls actually fawn over him."

"But when we're alone, he's completely another person."

"You used to be bipolar too."

"Yea, thought so," Leon whined. "He's probably using my tricks back against me."

"Uh, now you're guilty."

"I'm scared, Emil," Leon grumbled, laying his head down on Emil's lap. He shut his eyes and nuzzled against his friend. "Help me."

"What should I do?" Emil stroked the pale face sympathetically. The dark circles surrounded Leon's eyes.

"I think he doesn't just want to ruin me." Leon burrowed his face into Emil's shirt and muttered. "He wants me to suffer. I wish he would just kill me."

"He won't get you as long as I'm here," Emil reassured. "Don't worry."

"You can't fight him. He's strong. I regret even trying it myself," Leon groaned.

"It'll be alright, Leon." Emil sighed. "We'll find a solution."

 **oOo**

Leon scanned the canteen. He couldn't spot his friends anywhere. Emil got called away to handle class duties. Kiku went out on a date with Hercules. Mei disappeared along with some other girls. Matthew…Right, where was he?

When Leon couldn't catch the blond, he flopped down in an empty seat in one corner. He stayed away from a couple of troublesome alphas and ate his meals silently.

"Aw, where're your sidekicks?"

Leon froze. He peeked through his bangs. Yong Soo propped his chin in a palm and smiled at him.

"Gone?"

"Buck off," Leon growled.

"Didn't you use to have a gang of lackeys with you?" Yong Soo snatched a bun from Leon's plate and stuffed it into his mouth. "They were pretty obedient, as I remember. Where're they now?"

"S-Shut up." Leon glared. "What do you want?"

"Woah, easy there, I'm merely trying to converse with my mate da-ze. You know at the end of the day, we need to strengthen our relationship in some way, right?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You heard me." Yong Soo grinned and fiddled with Leon's side bangs. Leon backed away and dropped his chopsticks.

"If…if you're going to take your revenge on me, go ahead," Leon snarled. "Just get it over with. Beat me to a pulp. Do, like, whatever you want. Leave me alone afterwards."

"I'm not going to do any of those things." Yong Soo chuckled. "Unlike you, I don't relish torturing someone I love."

Leon gulped. His jaws dropped at the last sentence.

"Oops, I said it, didn't I?" Yong Soo laughed, "Fancy a date with me da-ze?"

"No." Leon shook his head.

"What a pity." Yong Soo pouted. "To think that after all the effort I've put into transforming myself, you'd actually appreciate it."

"Bullshit." Leon snorted and spat at the Korean.

Yong Soo retained his smile and wiped the spit off with a napkin.

"Guess I'll need to tend to that spiteful mouth of yours." Yong Soo sneered. "Is it any good at sucking dicks?"

"You insolent bastard!" Leon hollered and slammed the table.

"Go on, call me names, I miss the way you insult me, babe," the Korean boy sang. "Wonder what kind of words you'll be using against me in bed da-ze."

 ** _Splash!_**

Yong Soo didn't move from his position. Water soaked his hair. His curl slumped a little from getting drenched. People stopped eating and chatting once they sensed the substantial temperature drop and the menacing scent enveloping Yong Soo. They all turned their heads to their direction.

There were two kinds of shows people enjoy daily in the school. One happens when two alphas engage in fights to see who is more prominent. The other type is when a tension forms between an alpha and an omega.

Leon didn't want to think he was inadvertently involved in the latter one.

Damn it.

"That sucks, man," a loud voice butted in. Alfred patted Yong Soo's shoulder and laughed, "That's one feisty, grouchy princess. Aren't you gonna do something, dude? He totally can do with some discipline."

Leon glared at the two boys and stepped away from them.

Yong Soo stood up and shook off the water from his hair.

"Time, Alfred." Yong Soo smiled. "I've got plenty of time to play with him. No need to rush. I don't think my little pet can run away just yet."

"What's going on?" Emil ran towards Leon and caught his elbow. He gasped at the two alphas mocking his best friend.

 _"I can't believe an omega dares attack an alpha,"_ someone exclaimed.

 _"That's going to be interesting."_

 _"I wanna watch that transfer student tame him though."_

 _"He can't get away with this. He's got guts to insult an alpha, wow!"_

"What's happened, Leon?" Emil ignored the whispers and shook his friend's arm.

"Let's go." Leon's voice quavered. "Now."

He grabbed Emil's hand and sprinted out of the canteen, his heart racing.

He felt Yong Soo's glares behind his back.


	2. Game & Submission

**(6)**

"Leon, tell me what's going on!" Emil yelled.

Leon didn't look back and continued dragging his friend down the corridor. He rushed into the toilet and rinsed his face with tap water.

"What happened when I was away on duty?" Emil asked.

Leon stared at his reflection in the mirror. His face was still burning red. He didn't realise he would shiver so much. The threats weren't suppose to affect him profusely but the gleam in Yong Soo's eyes was etched in his mind.

"Leon." Emil hugged his friend from behind. "I'm here. Don't worry. It's fine now."

"It's not." Leon frowned. "It's all messed up. And it's my fault."

"We were kids at that time, Leon! We didn't know better!" Emil argued, "He shouldn't use that against you. You've already apologised!"

"Don't you get it?" Leon spun around and grabbed Emi's shoulders. "I, like, made his life a living hell once. He's now going to make mine the same."

"That's wrong." Emil shook his head. "If he does that, he's just the same as us!"

"I don't know what to do anymore, shit, this is killing me." Leon hung his head. "Why would he even come back? Damn it!"

"Calm down, Leon!" Emil went forward and embraced his shaking friend. "He can't hurt you that much. I won't allow it."

"And what're you, like, going to do?" Leon quipped, eyes brimming with tears, "What can we omegas do against those alphas? Tell me."

Emil bit his lips and didn't say a thing.

 **oOo**

The clock was ticking. Leon couldn't concentrate. It was time of the season where most omegas got struck by heat waves. First was Mei. She had been absent for more than a week. Then Kiku and Emil. Matthew was nowhere to be seen, probably hiding away from Francis at home. Leon's heat cycle usually came a bit later than the others. He didn't like to miss school because works kept piling up afterwards. It sucks to catch up with the learning progress and if he missed a test, he would have to retake it, which meant more revision and nagging from his mum.

He took pills to suppress his hormones. He wasn't as easily flustered as Emil, who normally went berserk during his heat. He would curl up all day under the blanket, shivering in sweat and whimpering with tears. Leon would drop by to comfort him, hold his hand and whisper pacifying words. But the boy knew his presence was useless. When an omega is in heat, either he suffers until the cycle ends or he mates with an alpha. Only alphas can quench their needs.

Leon didn't want to think about his own heat. It was unbearable. Ever since he got his first cycle when he was thirteen, it only aggravated as he grew older. If he forgot his suppressants, it would be an absolute disaster. His scent was rather unique. It emitted pheromones that could attract alphas from miles away. He was, in other words, constantly risking his luck going back to school. If the thread broke, he was doomed.

It didn't help that Yong Soo was now sitting next to him. The Korean boy seemed mesmerised by his aromatic scent. Leon had separated their desks and moved his closer to the window so that he didn't have to bump into Yong Soo's shoulder. Yong Soo had made it his responsibility to frighten him every single second of his school life. He would stare at him with a smug smile, tease him, fiddle with his sensitive side bangs, slip a hand to his lap and…grope his chest!

"Your breasts belong to me da-ze!"

It had become a habit for Yong Soo to grab him from behind by surprise.

Every time Leon struggled out of the grip, he would blush and glare at his attacker. It startled him that the Korean boy hadn't only come back with a twisted personality, but also a perverted mind.

He was constantly groping Leon. Here and there. Hands. Wrists. Cheeks. Chest. Waist. Legs.

"Fuck off!" Leon yelped, smacking Yong Soo's hand away.

"What? Your breasts belong to me." The Korean boy pouted.

"I don't have breasts. Are you fucking blind? I'm a guy!" Leon growled.

"They are breasts if I want them to be da-ze."

"You're insane!" Leon shook his head and yelped when Yong Soo wrapped his arms around his waist. He hit the Korean boy in the head.

"S-Stop touching me, pervert!" Leon wished someone was there to help. He glanced up. No one dared come to his rescue. They all kept at least a metre away from Yong Soo. _Especially Yong Soo_.

"Shit," Leon muttered under his breath. He raised his leg to kick Yong Soo in the stomach. The Korean boy caught his knee and pulled him down. The boy landed on the ground with a groan.

"Don't be so difficult~ Why won't you accept the fact that I'm now much, much stronger than you? And more handsome too." The alpha beamed shamelessly.

"Hell no, ugly bastard," Leon snarled and propped himself up. His butt hurt. He wouldn't have expected Yong Soo to be that agile.

"Come on, show me more affection and I'll be sure to treat you nice." The alpha winked and grabbed Leon's arms, pulling him up.

"G-Get your filthy hands off me!" Leon bellowed and shoved the alpha away. "Gosh, stop bothering me anymore, please!"

"I can't figure out if you're begging or shouting at me." Yong Soo shrugged. His curl bounced as he leapt forward, their faces inches apart. Leon's cheeks heated up again. His eyes darted elsewhere but Yong Soo gripped his chin and forced his eyes on him.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, pet." His voice held a bit of warning but he retained the smile.

Everyone was watching. No one would interfere because they all knew when an alpha was sending off signals. Yong Soo was indignant. He was still smiling though.

"If you dare look the other way again, dear." Yong Soo chuckled, tracing Leon's jaw with his fingers. The omega shuddered and squirmed. "I'll gouge your eyes out. You wouldn't want that to happen, right?"

Tears prickled his eyes. Leon forced himself not to cry in front of the class. It was humiliating. Everyone was watching the show. Watching how the alpha threatened the omega to one corner, disciplining him.

"And I absolutely don't want to ruin your beautiful eyes too, darling." The Korean boy laughed malevolently. "I don't even want to scrape an inch of your gorgeous skin."

"L-Let…me go," Leon stuttered, pressing his hands against Yong Soo's chest.

"Aw, poor little mouse, why are you crying? I haven't even done anything to you yet." The alpha giggled and rubbed Leon's cheeks with his thumbs.

"Let's play a game, shall we?" Yong Soo leant closer and whispered into Leon's ear. "If you win the game, I'll leave you alone. If you lose, you'll stop fighting me and submit yourself to me."

Leon frowned.

"It's a fair game da-ze!" Yong Soo jumped back and clapped. "You never offered me any options when we were kids. Now, I'm being super merciful, eh?"

Leon clenched his fists and glared at the grinning Korean.

"A game, Leon, you love games. I'm doing something in your favour." Yong Soo smirked and caressed the omega's face. He bent forward and sealed their lips together.

"Fine." Leon pulled away from the kiss. "I'll, like, do it. Play that stupid game of yours. After that, leave me alone."

"Oh? So confident already?"

"Play fair, Im Yong Soo," Leon growled and stomped out of the classroom.

The alpha couldn't help laughing as his name came out of those alluring lips the first time.

* * *

 **(7)**

Leon regretted accepting the challenge the second he was led to the empty school building at night. The place was dark and vacant except the two of them.

"Quite nostalgic, huh?" Yong Soo grinned. They were standing in front of their primary school. Leon hadn't come back for years. It looked the same though. There were four blocks. Each had two floors. A garden on the left. A playground on the right.

"What do you want now?" Leon scowled.

"Treasure hunt da-ze!" Yong Soo whooped. He snatched Leon's bag and tossed it with all his might. Leon gasped. His bag flew across the sky and landed right into…into…

"What the actual fuck?"

"No gadgets to help you, dear." Yong Soo laughed. The bag floated in the swimming pool.

"I've just stolen something from your pocket." Yong Soo winked. Leon blanched and fumbled in his pockets immediately, flipping them out. "I've hidden it somewhere in this school building. You have precisely thirty minutes to find it. After that, you know what it means."

Leon's face was now as pale as his white school shirt. The bottle was gone. His suppressants!

"As I remember correctly, your heat cycle strikes tonight." Yong Soo glimpsed his watch and smiled. "Let's see if you can get away fully dressed?"

"You bastard!" Leon raised his fist but stopped when Yong Soo held up his hand.

"Uh uh, you wouldn't want to waste your time now da-ze. I'm counting."

Leon bit his bottom lip and ran into the school building. Yong Soo strutted after him.

Leon ran into each classroom and looked everywhere. He dug into drawers, flipped the lockers open, kicked open the locked doors, turned every room upside down. He had no time to spare. His cheeks grew redder and hotter. He started panting as he raced from one floor to another. One block to another.

"Remember the storage room, Leon?" Yong Soo's laugh echoed in the dark hallway. Leon hated darkness. He couldn't tolerate it. And Yong Soo clearly knew this. He must've hidden the suppressants in the darkest corner in the school.

"You used to lie to me that there were monsters in the storage room and lock me up there. Remember the time you stole my clothes after PE and forced me to walk around the corridor naked? Oh and the time you splashed paint all over my face in arts, trampled on me with your new sneakers, burned my hair and dumped all my books into the pool!"

Leon gritted his teeth and ran into the next room. He covered his ears. Yong Soo's voice reverberated in the dark.

"Oh wow, fast, you've reached the second floor already! That kinda reminds me, there is this abandoned classroom where you and your lovely friends used to summon me. You would surround me and kick me like a ball. You said I'm your punchbag. I was born to be stomped and spat on."

"S-Shut up!" Leon cried. He couldn't stop his tears. He kept running away from the Korean boy.

"You said you would like to see if I was made invincible." Yong Soo laughed. "So you gave me a little push. Just a little push. Down I rolled. You ran off once you heard the first crack of my bones."

"S-Stop it, please!"

"You know, I really do miss those days," Yong Soo continued, walking slowly after the omega. "I had no friends. You were the only one who would bother to speak to me, even though all you did was bossing me around and throwing me insults. Still, I'm grateful that you did push me downstairs that day. If I hadn't ended up in the hospital, my poor parents wouldn't have to sell their organs to cover up my medical bills. And guess what? Our debtors set our house on fire afterwards. Everyone died. Gone. Vanished into ashes. I survived. I always survive. Like I used to in one of your games."

Leon halted. His breathing hitched. He fell on his knees and trembled. The heat shot up his body. Tears floded his eyes as he rolled on the floor.

"No…this can't be…"

Yong Soo stopped too. He stood behind Leon's curled-up body. The scent grew stronger, enveloping the entire school block.

"I can smell it." The alpha's nose twitched upon detecting the intoxicating scent. "Guilt, apprehension, fear."

Leon groaned and clamped his legs together. His heat had struck earlier than scheduled, probably due to Yong Soo's trigger.

"And then, I got sent to an orphanage. I got adopted. My new family is rich and loving, like yours. They might be what you regard as 'normal'." Yong Soo smiled and loomed closer to the quivering body. "Oh yea, I nearly forgot. But no matter how hard I scrubbed myself clean, I'm still the same filthy doggie born to a working class. I don't match you, do I?"

"S-Stop it…please…" Leon pleaded in absolute pain. His heat wave was attacking. He crawled forward. He needed his pills. Damn quick. "I'm sorry…I'm so…sorry!" He shouted, "For everything I did to you! Please! Give it back…"

"Nah, fair play, you said." Yong Soo grinned and peeked at his watch. "Time's up. You lost, Leon Kirkland. Have you ever lost a game? I bet not. Let this be the first and hopefully the last one you'd ever lose."

"Yong Soo…"

"Uh, you finally call me by my name." The alpha straddled the body and bent down, stroking the tear-drenched face in amusement. "I hated you. I hated you so much I wanted to tear you apart."

Leon's eyes widened. Yong Soo's fingers danced across his cheeks and down to his neck.

"But-" Yong Soo paused and leant in to kiss those puckered lips. "That was my initial thought. After losing my parents, I thought I might end my own life. But then, I started seeing my opportunities. I recalled what you did to me. Everything you said about me. Actually, they were all true. I was a lowlife. Ugly. Weak. I deserved no respect and dignity. I began to think over your words. Eventually, I realised what I had to do. In one way or another, you're the reason why I've become what I'm today. I couldn't be more delighted when I found that I was an alpha. I changed myself. Because of you. And also for you."

"Why…..Why are you doing this?" Leon groaned painfully. His entire body was on fire. It had never happened before. Yong Soo's presence accelerated his heat wave.

"Shortly after I changed school, I found it unendurable. I couldn't get rid of you in my head. Whatever I did, you were there to remind me what a piece of shit I was. I didn't want to admit it at first, but I knew it was true. I could never forget about you. The only way out is to come back and look what I've found!" Yong Soo chuckled. "A beautiful omega awaiting me. I think it's fate. We were meant to be from the very beginning. Otherwise, why would you lay your eyes on me when there were so many other boys you could pick on in class? You must love me, right? Everything you did was for me to strive for better. How considerate."

"You're fucking…twisted…damn it…you're brain-damaged!" Leon yelped.

"Now, now, don't you forget that you were the one who damaged this awesome brain." Yong Soo laughed and knocked his head playfully. He pinned Leon down and latched his mouth on the exposed neck.

"Stop!" Leon struggled but felt weak against the hovering body. A sudden wave of heat washed over him. Haze filled his mind.

"No…" he swallowed his sobs. He couldn't believe he would end up trapped underneath his worst enemy. His body started to tense up. He gasped for air.

"My dear, you forgot how to cheat in your own game?" Yong Soo shook his head and pulled out from his pocket the bottle of pills Leon was craving for. "When you played 'treasure hunt' with me, you used to hide my money in your own pocket and watch me search the entire school building like an idiot. You've searched everywhere da-ze. But you haven't searched my pockets."

"G-Give it to me!" Leon tried to grab the bottle. Yong Soo hurled it out of the window and smirked. The omega wept and lay back down, panting.

"Please…I can't…endure it." Leon wiggled on the floor. The heat grew stronger. He was awfully aroused. His lower region was throbbing, longing for attention. There was no way out.

"You don't just look beautiful." The alpha held his wrists and licked his tears. "You smell and taste beautiful too da-ze."

Leon moaned. His head started spinning. He couldn't hold it any longer. Yong Soo ground their bodies together. The heat was eating his senses away. Sweat coated his forehead and wet his bangs. He stared imploringly at Yong Soo.

"What's it now?" the Korean boy remained unfazed, although he had to admit the scent was tempting. He would have ravaged the omega right away if only he had asked.

"This…is killing me…help me…"

"Now I smell determination da-ze."

It was worse than asking for death. Leon wished he could just kill himself but this heat was evil. It blinded him. He didn't even care that alpha sabotaging him was Yong Soo. He requested a release. Fast.

"Please…"

"Please what? How do you want me to help?" Yong Soo shrugged.

"My heat…damn it... I need…need someone…to fuck me…right now."

"And what do you expect me to do da-ze?"

"Screw you! Didn't you, like, want this all along?" Leon cried, covering his face with tears. "If you're going to avenge yourself…do it…"

"Great, so you do agree that you've lost the game, eh?" Yong Soo smiled.

"Yes, yes! I lost it!" Leon wailed and shut his eyes. "I can't hold it…any longer…fuck…"

"Well then, I shall claim my prize." Yong Soo chuckled one last time before ripping the shirt open.

* * *

 **(8)**

Leon wished there was something to grasp. Yong Soo was more than glad to offer his back for him to claw. He wrapped his legs around the alpha's waist and moaned. The thrusts were erratic and hard. Yong Soo spared no time to prepare him. He deserved it anyway. It felt wonderful being filled. The heat still lingered but it wasn't as agonising as before.

Leon arched his back and groaned. Yong Soo bit down his neck hard. The alpha's hands wandered on his chest and settled on his nipples. Leon grunted at the harsh fondling. His hair was soaked in sweat. The sound of their skin slapping filled the air. Yong Soo's scent encased him. The pleasure built up intensely in his stomach. He felt like he could die of it.

"A-Ah…g-go harder…" Leon groaned. He knew he would probably regret it afterwards but at this moment, he yearned for the alpha's touch. The Korean boy complied. He flipped his mate over and thrust harder into the slender body, earning him a series of moans and cries. He yanked Leon's hair and turned his face towards him so that he could claim those lips again. The kiss was long and choking. Leon lay flat on the ground as the alpha took him from behind, shoving himself in and out deliriously.

The release was relieving. Leon came with soft whimper. The alpha followed seconds later, knotting his mate and waiting for the pleasure to ebb away.

Leon collapsed in heaps of sweat, panting. His lids drooped. He felt Yong Soo's arms around him. The liquid flooded inside his rear. He felt drowsy.

"Leon." The voice was tender. Leon forced his lids open and stared at Yong Soo. The boy stroked his face gently and kissed him.

"I know you probably can't hear me right now, but I'm going to say it anyway." The alpha lay down on his mate and cooed. "I don't want to hurt you to be honest, but you left me no choice. All I want is for you to recognise me."

Leon didn't reply. He closed his puffy eyes and sighed.

"And now, you're mine."

 **oOo**

He woke up surrounded by blankets. His fever had subided but it wasn't the end yet. Leon gasped. His chest rose and fell rapidly. He was sweating. The ceiling was plain white. He couldn't see the usual sky blue wallpapers in his room. He skimmed the room in terror. The smell. Every single corner was tainted with a particular smell. Spicy. Hypnotising.

When the next heat wave attacked him, he shrieked. He had never felt this helpless before. Without the suppressants, he couldn't get through it.

"Yong Soo!" he screamed, reaching out his hand. He rolled on the king-sized bed, trying to get to the door from the nest.

The door swung open. The alpha looked a bit disconcerted but soon his frown was replaced with a smile.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you home." Yong Soo approached his mate with a glass of water. "I thought you would need me for the next two days or so."

"Damn it, just get the fuck here, jerk!" Leon cried and grabbed Yong Soo's wrist. The glass slipped off his hand and shattered on the floor. He dragged the Korean on top of him and kissed him vigorously.

"And I'm warning you." Leon panted, stripping Yong Soo desperately. "You started this shit. If you don't take responsibility, I'll, like, chop your head off when my heat ends."

"How sweet." Yong Soo grinned, groping the omega's ass. Leon moaned and lay back down weakly. The alpha leant in for another kiss.

"Well, you're still wet. Just how much do you need me?"

"S-Stop talking…just fuck me already!" The omega yelped, burrowing his face into the other's chest. The alpha entered the body without any delay. Beautiful moans resounded in his ears.

For the next two days while Leon was in heat, they mated. It was a dilemma for the omega. He couldn't get over the remorse afterwards but at the same time he surrendered to the needs. The only bright side was that the alpha wasn't as downright harsh and horrifying as he thought. In contrast, Yong Soo was rather gentle and always reacted calmly to his foul remarks.

It ended on the fourth day. Leon was finally free from the torment. He rushed into the bathroom inside the bedroom and cleaned himself. He stayed there for hours, simply trying to drown his senses out. He sobbed and curled himself up in the tub. Of course, he knew revenge wouldn't be pretty, but this one was ominous. Yong Soo had successfully avenged himself. He had ruined him thoroughly. And he so deserved it because of all the pain he had once inflicted on Yong Soo.

He didn't go home right away. He didn't want to face his parents or even imagine their looks when they found that their precious son had been mated. He hadn't even finished school. There was still a year till he graduated. And he had dreams. He wanted to get into a university. To do something other omegas wouldn't do or were too afraid to break the social norms to achieve. When he thought about the shattered future ahead, he cried again.

Having a mate wasn't the biggest issue. What he feared most was Yong Soo's next step. Now that he had claimed him, what would he do to him next? He couldn't run away now. He had lost the game. He got to pay for the bet.

"You should dry your hair before going to sleep."

Yong Soo's hand brushed his wet bangs lightly. Leon ducked deeper into the blanket and shook.

"If I were you, I would think about how to please my alpha from now on."

Leon whirled around and glared at the alpha.

"Just kidding." The Korean boy laughed and stroked his hair.

"And what're you planning next?" the omega scowled. "Dump me? Tell everyone your deed? Kill me?"

"Are you scared?" Yong Soo laughed and pulled the omega into his arms. He sniffed his mate and smirked, "Definitely scared da-ze."

Leon looked away to hide his tears, his heart beating frantically. Whatever answer Yong Soo gave didn't matter anymore. The humiliation alone could kill him.

"What if I tell you I'm not going to do anything?" Yong Soo whispered, hugging his mate from behind.

This confused Leon a little. Should he thank him or seize the opportunity to punch him in the face?

"You used to be my greatest fear." The alpha withdrew from him and stood up. "Nightmare, oh boy. But the only way out of fear is to face the fear itself. Turn it around and defeat it. That's why I came back. At some point, I started indulging in it. If I didn't take you, I don't think anyone else could handle you da-ze!"

Leon tossed a pillow at the beaming alpha.

"And the greatest weapon to wield against someone like you is guilt." Yong Soo chuckled. "Indigenous, aren't I?"

"Seriously…are you, like, sure you didn't damage your brain when I pushed you downstairs?" Leon frowned.

Damn. This alpha was utterly warped. But who was he to blame? He was probably the reason he turned out this way.

Yong Soo sat down on the bed and laughed.

"Did your…family really die?" Leon asked, not surprised to find his words come out as stammers. Everything Yong Soo said when he hunted him down in that school building remained crystal clear. Even the images were lucid in his head. He could never forget what he had done- all those deadly pranks he had pulled on the other boy and shoved his mind over the edge.

"My brother and I survived."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't think that's your fault. I exaggerated it a little bit. We used to be in some pretty bad debts even way before I got hospitalised." Yong Soo shrugged indifferently.

"But still…"

"You should go home," Yong Soo said. For once, his smile disappeared. His eyes glimmered. "I think your parents are worried sick about you, spoiled brat."

Leon blushed and averted his gaze.

He couldn't put a finger on his racing heart.

* * *

 **(9)**

Yong Soo took him home, but he was clever enough to sneak away before Leon's parents appeared. The boy had to face the music alone. Yao nearly flung the door off its hinge. He raced towards his son and hugged him. Arthur looked like he could kill someone, but didn't bring out his gun.

"Where have you been?" Yao shook Leon's shoulders. He examined his son's face, checking if any parts of his body were missing. His eyes eventually settled on the swollen bite around his neck. The omega parent froze.

"What in the bloody world has he done to you?" Arthur growled in exasperation. Finding his son on their porch in dishevelled clothes was the most unsightly and disturbing scene to be sure. To sense that Leon's scent was blended with someone else's effectively set him off. "I'll kill that git right now!"

"No." Leon frowned.

"He said he's your boyfriend aru. Is that true?" Yao asked worriedly. He couldn't bear to see his dear son crying. Leon had always played tough in front of them. Even when they scolded him on rare occasions, he never shed a tear. "Who is he? Why did you stay at his house? What happened?"

"Please…don't ask." Leon brushed off Yao's hands and stepped into his house.

"Leon, we need to know what's going on!" Arthur said, more agitated now.

"I'm fine, really." Leon swallowed and headed upstairs.

"Are you absolutely sure?" His parents chased after him. He got back into his room and slipped into his bed. He hugged his stuffed animals and turned away from his parents.

"Leon!"

"I'm really fine!"

"And that boy-"

"Yes, yes, he's my mate," Leon blurted out and tried not to sound like he was tearing up. "We used to go to the same primary school. He came back. We bonded. That's it."

Yao gasped, "But…but you've never told us you had a mate!"

"How could you keep this from us?" Arthur snarled.

"Guys! Leave me alone, would you? I don't, like, wanna talk about it right now," Leon growled and curled up in his blanket. "I'm exhausted. Let me sleep, please."

For the next few days, he hid himself in his room, refusing to let anyone in. When his parents asked about it, he shrugged them off or simply lied. If he had to reveal the truth, he would have to start the story from when they were kids. Both Arthur and Yao had no idea what their son used to do in the past and probably wouldn't wish to learn about it. He told them it was his decision to be mated. They doubted it at first but as Leon kept insisting that it was consensual, they left it aside and let him rest.

Yao asked what plans he had for the future. Leon didn't know how to answer his mother. He wasn't even sure what kind of relationships he was in with Yong Soo right now. They were definitely not a normal couple.

 _What exactly does he feel towards me?_ Leon thought to himself. He couldn't smell it off Yong Soo. The alpha concealed his emotions well. He was able to control his desires and sentiments, unlike the whimpering, easily flustered boy he used to be as a kid. He always wore that smile on his face but Leon knew right behind that mask hid something unfathomable.

 _Grudge probably,_ Leon concluded.

He couldn't do much now. He couldn't reverse time and fix stuff from the past. He thought he would die after what Yong Soo did to him but surprisingly he didn't feel so bad. He found it reasonable that the alpha had avenged himself. Maybe it was meant to be this way. He had to undo the wrong somehow.

It left him the questions though.

 _What now?_

 _Is he really going to be Yong Soo's mate forever?_


	3. His mate

**(10)**

Emil glimpsed his phone. Zero messages.

His stomach churned. He couldn't help opening his chat with Leon and typed something. The other omega hadn't answered any of his texts. He had been absent for almost a week already. And Emil got a bad feeling about it.

Yong Soo didn't come to school the first three days. Emil immediately suspected something fishy. When the Korean boy returned, he acted normal, albeit slightly more jolly.

He lost it when he caught Mathias chattering with Alfred and Yong Soo at lunch. He stomped up to the three alphas and pulled Mathias aside.

"What're you doing!" Emil growled, his cheeks burning.

"Huh?" Mathias blinked in puzzlement.

"Stop hanging out with these two jerks!" Emil snarled. The two alphas narrowed their eyes indignantly.

"Woah, wait, we were just talking. Why are you getting so offensive? Is something wrong, Emil?" Mathias tried to stroke the omega's hair but Emil shoved him off.

"Don't you start it." Emil pushed the Dane and glared at Yong Soo. "What did you do to Leon! Don't think that I'm unaware of it! He hasn't been to school for days!"

"And I thought you were his best friend da-ze." Yong Soo chuckled. "You don't even know when he's in heat?"

"What?"

"Oh yea, you couldn't help him anyway." Yong Soo giggled. "You're both omegas!"

"Screw you!" Emil lunged at the Korean. Mathias quickly clasped him and pulled him back.

"Stop it, Emil! What the fuck are you doing!"

Emil squirmed and kicked in Mathias' arms.

The other two alphas watched in amusement as the Dane dragged Emil out of the scene.

"What in the fucking world do you think you're doing?" Mathias shoved Emil into the toilet and pinned him against the wall.

"Let go, Mathias!" Emil cried and wiggled out of Mathias' grip.

"You're crazy! I won't let you mess with other alphas. You hear me? Your brother asked me specifically to take care of you, damn it!"

"I never asked you to look after me!" Emil retorted and smacked Mathias in the face. "How can you hang out with them? Those two are devils!"

"Emil!" Mathias bawled, holding down Emil's flailing wrists. "Calm down!"

"I can't!" Emil sobbed, "Leon…something's happened to him…he won't answer my calls… He's never been absent for this long. That guy…he's definitely done something to him!"

"Why do you care about him so much?" Mathias yelled, his face twisted in anguish and jealousy. "Why can't you just leave others alone and focus on us! Emil! I love you!"

"Stop it, Mathias…" Emil glanced away.

"He's an omega, Emil! You two can never be together!"

"I know!" Emil hollered, "It doesn't matter we can't bond. He's my friend, Mathias! If you love me, you should understand and respect my feelings! I'm worried about Leon!"

"Too late." Mathias released Emil.

The omega frowned, "What…what do you mean?"

"Leon didn't tell you?" Mathias rubbed his temples and sighed.

"What're you talking about?" Emil shook his head. "He hasn't talked to me for days!"

"They bonded," Mathias said. "They mated. Not just once. He belongs to Yong Soo now."

"You're kidding me, right?" Emil scowled and grabbed Mathias' collar. "Stop fooling around. It's not funny!"

"We chatted, Emil! Yong Soo told us himself! He made it clear no one else is to be near Leon again." Mathias said, "I thought you knew it already! Don't get close to other alphas anymore! I don't want to see you trying to initiate a fight with them!"

"You're lying!"

"I'm not! You can ask him yourself!" Mathias furrowed his brows and caught Emil's hands. "Please, pull yourself together! Is he really worth you getting into so much trouble?"

"You don't understand anything! He's a very precious friend of mine!" Emil cried and trotted out of the toilet, "I can't lose him!"

 **oOo**

Emil kept ringing the bell and banging the door at the same time. Leon scurried downstairs and opened the door. He stiffened when he saw Emil.

"Leon!" the omega tackled his friend into a hug. He was glad that Leon was still in one piece.

"Emil? What're you…doing here?" Leon gasped.

"What? You don't want to see me?"

"No…that's not it…" Leon frowned and returned the hug. He let Emil into the house and shut the door.

"I miss you. Why aren't you coming back to school?" Emil asked, fearing the answer but he got to confirm the truth.

A long moment of aching silence followed. Leon sighed and led Emil to the couch. They both sat down. Emil continued to wait for the other omega to speak.

"I really…like, don't wanna tell you this, Emil…" Leon covered his face with his hands.

"It hurts me too, just so you know," Emil said.

"Will you hate me?"

"No, why would you even think that?" Emil yelped and grabbed his friend's hands. "I could loathe everyone on earth but you. Please, tell me what's wrong with you. I wanna help."

"You can't help me." Leon shook his head.

"I'll try my best, please."

"I'm fine."

"You're not," Emil said. "You're crying."

"That's because I'm happy that you still care about me, even if I'm, like, not my old self anymore."

"Did he really do that to you?" Emil seethed, "I'm gonna kill him!"

"No, don't, it's okay, I had it coming, really," Leon said. "We mated. That is."

"He forced you, didn't he?"

"I lost the game, so I submitted to him myself," Leon muttered. "Fair enough."

"You call this 'fair'? He just…oh my God, how could you not do something about it!"

"What can I do, Emil?" Leon asked and cocked his eyebrows. "I'm now bound to him. That's what he wants in the first place. I accept my fate."

Emil didn't respond. He stared painfully at his friend. Leon's face was pale, his eyes dull and inane.

"Don't do the unnecessary, Emil," Leon said. "I don't want you to get hurt. I'm seriously fine. I can handle this."

Emil pulled the other omega into his arms.

"I wish I could do something," he sobbed. "I hate to see you like this. Please, let me help you at least."

"You've, like, already helped me by being there for me," Leon smiled. "I'm okay."

"Just tell me if you need anything. I could kill him for you too."

"Thanks, Emil. That means a lot to me."

* * *

 **(11)**

"So, what does my lovely pet want for lunch?"

Leon tried to ignore Yong Soo's silly grins and concentrated on the teacher's talk.

"Do you wanna try kimchi? You used to call it 'shit'." Yong Soo pouted. "But kimchi is really delicious. We can eat something else though da-ze! Rice? Noodles? Tea? Scones?"

"Would you please shut up? I've been absent for enough days to miss the last two tests. Can you, like, let me focus for once?"

"Okay, okay, you should've just asked da-ze." Yong Soo slid his notebook to Leon's desk. "I'll give you my notes."

"And why are you being so nice to me?" Leon squinted suspiciously and flipped the notes. Yong Soo's handwriting was worse than he thought. How could he even read what he wrote?"

"Huh? Isn't this how things work? Alphas pamper and protect their mates. Or how do you think I should treat you?" Yong Soo grinned slyly.

"Never mind, forget what I said. I can't read your notes." Leon scowled and shoved the notebook back to Yong Soo.

"What? Why?"

"Your handwriting!"

"Ay, there's nothing wrong with it." Yong Soo pouted again and examined his notes. Leon glanced back at the board.

When the break came, he went straight to find Emil. Yong Soo tagged along, of course. He almost followed Leon everywhere twenty-four-seven now. Emil was not pleased to say the least but he couldn't do a thing about it. Leon acted like it was no big deal. His quarrel with Yong Soo often made a scene in the school corridor and the canteen though.

"Emil, I gotta, like, borrow your notes for a while," Leon whispered to his friend. "I can't read Yong Soo's words."

Emil chuckled and shot the alpha a condescending smile. Yong Soo raised his eyebrows and smirked, "You're pretty vain for an omega, aren't you?"

"To be honest, you're pretty cheeky and brusque as an alpha too." Emil glared back at the Korean.

"Woah, hold it there," Leon interrupted and inserted himself between the other two boys before the temperature plummeted to zero again. "I'm hungry. Let's go grab some snacks first."

It became much like a routine. Leon would continue to hang out with Emil. When his mate tagged along, the two would quip at each other. Leon had to steer away from the topic to keep them from fighting. And if they ever fought, it wouldn't be a pretty scene.

"Do you love him?" Emil asked one day, while he was walking Leon home because the Korean boy had club activities. It had been weeks since they mated. Leon hadn't really mulled over the topic. The alpha had been clinging to him quite affectionately. The more he tried to decode his current situations, he only ended up more mystified.

"What?" Leon halted and pulled out the lollipop he was chewing.

"What exactly is your relationship?" Emil frowned, "Do you even feel anything for him?"

That caught Leon off guard for a moment. The boy contemplated hard. He blushed slightly at all the possibilities. He still couldn't figure out how he felt though. He had expected Yong Soo to do something really awful to him because of their past conflicts, but the alpha hadn't done much after their bonding. He actually treated him like how an alpha would treat his mate.

"Geez, is this what they call Stockholm Syndrome?"

"S-Shut up…It's not like what you think, Emil." Leon blushed and continued walking, jamming his hands into his pockets.

"Is it true then?" Emil didn't give up. He caught up with Leon and took his hand. "You feel guilty about what happened to him. Is that why you complied with him?"

"Emil, I seriously don't know." Leon sighed. "I don't think I understand his logic either. But I did hurt him a lot in the past. Maybe I kinda, like, wanna redeem myself too."

"By being his mate? Is that how it really works?" Emil scowled.

"I don't know."

"Leon, I don't want you to regret this for the rest of your life. Bonding with someone you don't love…that's never gonna work."

"We don't have a say in this type of things," Leon pinpointed. "Sometimes, omegas can't pick their mates either."

"You used to oppose to this strongly, Leon! You used to despise being an omega. What's happened to you?"

"I don't know…I really don't know, Emil." Leon shook his head. He felt that he had betrayed Emil at some point. He liked him profoundly. They had been best pals since they were kids. They had never once left each other's side.

"One thing I do know, however, is that if I were an alpha, I would never leave you, Emil. I'm so sorry that I didn't turn out to be one."

"It isn't your fault." Emil squeezed Leon's hand and looked ahead. "Maybe it's better this way."

"Yea." Leon chuckled. "Wanna, like, come to my house and play some video games?"

"That's more like it." Emil laughed.

 **oOo**

"Yong Soo," Leon muttered. He was sitting on the alpha's lap. They were inside his room pasting time. It was a late weekend afternoon. The alpha dropped by uninvited. Leon leant back a little against Yong Soo's chest. The alpha wrapped one arm protectively around his waist. He held a phone in his other hand, scrolling down some apps and games. They sat leisurely on a beanbag. Leon put down his book. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go on." Yong Soo's eyes still fixated on his phone screen.

"Why would you want a mate you hate? That doesn't make any sense to me," Leon said.

"I don't hate you." Yong Soo's voice was unexpectedly monotonous. He tightened his arm around Leon's waist and looked up from his phone. "I said I used to hate you, but that feeling died out long ago. If I still hated you, I wouldn't have come back to confront you."

Leon blinked dubiously at the alpha. Yong Soo was calm for once. He wasn't jumping around groping him. To his relief, he sounded dead serious, unlike the reckless brat he often was. Spilling non-sense and inconceivable stuff.

"Um, how should I put it..." Yong Soo creased his brows. As if to accentuate his perplexity, he fidgeted with his curl. "I found you very attractive da-ze."

"What the fuck?"

"When I first saw you in class after all these years, I immediately knew I had to have you, because you look so pretty!"

"Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"No, Leon, it's always more fun to steal something you don't possess, right?" Yong Soo smirked, "You remember how you used to call me ugly and weak in the past? You've always been beautiful. Always admired and loved by many. So I've decided that I wanted to have you. That settles everything da-ze! And am I still ugly and weak in your eyes?"

Leon gulped and stared at Yong Soo.

"Are you, like, sure you haven't got a cosmetic surgery or something?" Leon blurted out.

Yong Soo whined, "True I got rid of the glasses, but I didn't do anything artificial to my face! I wouldn't want my future children to end up looking completely different from me, would I?"

"What?" Leon frowned and stood up from Yong Soo's lap.

"We can try harder next time, babe." Yong Soo winked and stood up to nuzzle against Leon's neck. "When your next heat cycle comes!"

"S-Stop it, pervert!"

"And don't you love the way I turned out? I thought you've always wanted me to act like this." Yong Soo chuckled and nibbled Leon's earlobe. "Haven't you always been a masochist?"

Leon blushed and pushed Yong Soo away.

"You were just trying hard to suppress your true self." Yong Soo sneered. "You were born an omega, Leon. You knew it from the start. You acted like an alpha to hide your inferiority. You wanted to identify as one so you kept oppressing those weaker than you. You thought you had a chance changing your fate. Oh well, seems like you failed."

"S-Shut up." Leon's cheeks were now fiery. He couldn't believe Yong Soo was undressing him so blatantly with words.

"The truth is-"

"No, don't say it!"

"You've always wanted me to claim you."

"Stop…Stop it already!"

"You're adorable when you're embarrassed." The alpha laughed and kissed his mate. "And I'm honoured to be the one who makes you quiver this much da-ze."

"You're horrible." Leon hid his face with his hands. Could what Yong Soo said be true? Had he really been acting that way?

"I'm flattered." Yong Soo giggled and closed in for another kiss. "I'd love to be more horrible."

"You know it took me years to finally figure you out," Yong Soo said after rendering Leon gasping for air. "You're so hard to track down, but I'm grateful for everything you did back then. You actually made me grow stronger and realise my goal."

"I didn't intend to do that." Leon snorted.

"I know you didn't." Yong Soo tittered. "That's why I say it must have been fate da-ze!"

* * *

 **(12)**

"Emil, your neck."

Emil blushed and covered the mark with his collar.

"Did you two finally hit it off?" Leon cocked his eyebrows.

"He's persistent." Emil snorted and blushed deeper as he recalled the scene. How could he be vulnerable enough to succumb to heat! Damn heat cycles.

"Is he, like, any good at it?" Leon smirked.

"S-Shut up, I don't wanna mention it." Emil pouted and looked away from his friend.

"He's nice to you though. That's all I need to know."

"I'm still not sure about this, actually." Emil turned and frowned. "It feels weird."

"Emil! I've been looking everywhere for you!" A pair of arms grabbed the silver-haired boy possessively and pulled him away from Leon. Leon exchanged a glance with Mathias.

"Don't touch my mate." Mathias grimaced jokingly.

"I haven't, like, even done anything yet." Leon laughed. "Although I'd very much love to."

"Stop clinging to me, Mathias!" Emil blushed and thrashed about in the alpha's arms. He gave him a kick. The Dane whined.

"Emil! I need to know if you're safe. You always wander off without telling me! I'm so worried. Lukas will twist my neck if he knows I let you out of my sight for even one damn second!"

"Then let him twist your neck. I don't care- mmph!" Emil stopped struggling and melted into the kiss. He hit the Dane in the head.

"Mathias! No public display of affection!"

"But you're always flirting with him." Mathias scowled at Leon.

"What? I didn't even-" Emil gasped as his mate interrupted him with another kiss. Leon laughed, "I'll see you later, Emil."

"Wait, I mean, we haven't even done our revision together!" Emil broke the kiss and yelled.

"Oh I can help you with that." Mathias pulled the omega close to him and chuckled.

"Shut up!" Emil smacked him upside the head again.

 **oOo**

After leaving Emil and Mathias, Leon raced into the bathroom. He dashed into a cubicle and bent over the toilet. He grunted as his stomach emptied itself of the contents of his breakfast. He kept puking until a hand brushed his sweat-drenched bangs and stroked his back. His face reddened.

"Are you okay?"

"Do I, like, look okay to you?" Leon growled and wiped his mouth. He leant against the wall exhaustedly.

Yong Soo went to the sink and soaked his handkerchief. He cleaned Leon's face and handed him a bottle of water.

"How long?" Yong Soo said, "You didn't tell me."

Leon didn't answer. He drank the water and panted. A sudden wave of sickness attacked him again. He hung over the toilet and puked.

"I'll get you to the infirmary."

"No, leave it." Leon shook his head. "We have classes."

"You can't enter the class like this da-ze!"

"I'll be fine after a nap," the omega insisted. He rinsed his mouth with water and stood back up.

"You need to rest." Yong Soo grabbed his elbow firmly. "I'll take you home."

"No." Leon flung off his mate's hand and hobbled out of the bathroom. "I'm fine."

He wasn't fine. By lunch, he had already rushed out of the classroom twice. Yong Soo forced him to go home. He didn't like the idea. He had missed enough lessons during his heat.

"P-Put me down, idiot!" Leon struggled and hit the Korean boy. Yong Soo continued walking with his mate on his back.

"Leon, we both know what's going on. Can you at least accept the fact that you aren't well and need some rest? I don't want you to faint in the corridor da-ze."

"We have a test coming! I can't miss any more classes!"

"Is having classes really more important than your well-being?"

"You don't understand anything," Leon whined and buried his face in Yong Soo's shoulder. "I wanna, like, graduate. Even if I can't do anything else in the future, I wanna finish school at least."

Yong Soo didn't say anything. He took Leon home.

The boy wouldn't stop sobbing. Now the alpha felt bad. Maybe a little guilty but he didn't regret it. He hugged Leon and kept stroking his back.

Leon for once didn't know what to do. He was lost.

"What's going on?" Yao barged into the room anxiously. To be frank, he wasn't pleased about seeing Yong Soo there holding his son's hand. Worse still, Leon seemed to be in some kind of illness.

"He isn't feeling well-" Before Yong Soo could finish his utterance, Yao dashed to Leon's side and held him. "Leon? Leon, are you alright?"

The boy nodded.

"You're running a fever aru."

"I'll be fine. I wanna, like, sleep." Leon lay back down and closed his eyes. Yao glared at Yong Soo. He was about to say something when Leon muttered, "Yong Soo, stay."

And so he stayed, much to Yao's discontent.

Leon didn't realise that he would fear so much. When he thought about the uncomfortable thing growing inside his belly, he knew he had to clear everything between them. Would Yong Soo leave him suffering and disappear? Was this what the alpha intended to do in the first place? Was he even ready to accept that he would be his mate forever?

"So, like, what to do now," Leon asked weakly. He didn't open his eyes. He felt a weight on the mattress. Yong Soo shifted beside him and draped an arm around his burning body.

"I won't leave you, if that's what you're thinking." The alpha chuckled quietly and cuddled his mate.

"Is this also part of your revenge schemes?" Leon smiled faintly.

"Not really, but I love surprises da-ze! Our children will be so beautiful!"

"Ugh, I don't even want to think about it."

"Then sleep." The Korean giggled and hugged the other boy tightly. "I'll stay."

"I guess." Leon nodded and dozed off.

* * *

 **(13)**

He woke up later in the middle of the night, sweating and panting heavily. He fumbled around for the lamp on his nightstand, accidentally knocking the person next to him in the head. Yong Soo bounced up after sensing the discomfort in Leon's smell. He switched on the lights. They stared at each other.

"Why are you, like, still here?" It took Leon a moment to recognise his room. He had been sleeping like a log.

"You asked me to stay da-ze!" Yong Soo beamed cheerfully.

"I'm surprised my dad didn't kick you out."

"I talked to him."

"What?" Leon frowned.

"He welcomed me to the family da-ze!"

Leon stared at the alpha jaw-dropped.

"Marvellous, isn't it?"

"What the fuck did you say to him?" Leon gasped. "You aren't joking, right?"

"Why would I joke about something so worth celebrating?" Yong Soo chuckled and pinned the other boy down. His lips curved into a wider grin. "I'm a good talker da-ze."

"That's not what I meant!" Leon grunted. It was weird. He wasn't even in heat but he felt so…so aroused. The sweat wouldn't stop. He grasped Yong Soo's shirt and pulled him down.

"How…did…you…even convince…him," the omega moaned between words as his mate nipped his neck.

"Simple." Yong Soo cackled, trailing his lips along those aromatic skins. He paused and looked down at Leon. "I said you can't live without me da-ze."

The omega groaned and shifted uneasily on piles of thick blankets. He didn't know his need would grow this intense. There was nothing he wanted to do other than mate with the boy above him. The scent he used to abhor smelled so tantalising. So strong and consoling. He wanted to be filled and caressed. He wasn't even going to think about the aftermath. At that very instant, his mind was dead set on one thing.

He wrapped his arms tightly around the alpha's neck. Yong Soo bent down and kissed back, slipping his hand underneath the omega's shirt to fondle his chest. He tugged down Leon's pants and stroked his length. The omega moaned into the kiss.

"Relax a little, okay?" Yong Soo whispered, lifting the other boy's thighs to wrap them around him. He grabbed the cheeks and spread them slightly.

"I can't," Leon whined, clenching his eyes and huffing. "Gosh, just, like, put it in already! I don't know what's happening to me!"

"Do you really want me to tell you?" Yong Soo smirked. He rubbed the slick-coated hole gently.

"No, just, get it over with, damn it!"

"You have to ask before you get something, princess." Yong Soo smiled and licked his mate's lips.

"Please, Yong Soo…"

"It's unlikely of you to be so meek," the alpha teased, plunging his tongue into the wet cavern. Leon gagged and tightened his arms around his mate, clawing his back and grinding against the other's body desperately.

"Please!"

"What?"

"I…really need this so bad…I don't know why. Oh God, just mate with me already!" His arousal got more painful as he talked. He wanted Yong Soo in him right away. There was no time to waste. He didn't care how pathetic and feeble he looked. There was only a person who could take that pain away. He finally realised that he could never evade Yong Soo. No matter how hard he tried to defy his natural instincts, they kept coming back to haunt him. He depended on him. So much more than he could have foreseen.

"Please…" The painful wait brought tears to his eyes. He buried his face into his mate's chest and sobbed. The alpha hoisted his legs up and entered him. He grunted at the first thrust.

"You know, if you're playing so hard to catch, I'll just be the same da-ze."

"I…am…not…" Leon growled. Yong Soo grinned and thrust harder, causing the omega to fill the room with moans and cries.

"You're still being dishonest." The alpha shook his head despondently. "I want you to concede more, Leon. What am I to you?"

"You…are…" Leon shut his eyes and basked in the pleasure exploding in his lower regions. "I…don't know…ugh…"

"Come on, I have stronger stamina than you da-ze." Yong Soo stopped moving. "I'm not gonna satisfy you until you speak candidly."

"You're…wicked." Leon glared at the alpha, who only tilted his head and smirked.

"Yong Soo!"

"I'm not gonna move." Yong Soo chuckled. "I can handle that. But can you?"

"Please," Leon wept. "I…really can't tell you the answer…I don't know it myself!"

"Then you'll just have to think harder da-ze." Yong Soo pulled out of the omega, causing him to groan in frustration.

"What am I to you?" the boy repeated his question. Leon writhed on the bed, his body soaked in slick.

"My…my…mate," the omega finally blurted out. "Please…don't do this to me."

"I can't hear you. Say it louder. And more clearly da-ze."

"You're my mate!" Leon yelped, pulling Yong Soo towards him.

"And who do you belong to?"

"Oh please, not now! This is killing me!"

"Well, this is precisely what I want you to experience. How does it feel to be begging for something?" Yong Soo smiled proudly.

"Forgive me! Please forgive me already. I didn't, like, mean anything I did in the past!"

"Finally, you're a bit more self-conscious of your position here."

"I know I acted like a jerk back then but you can't just torture me like this. Please, Yong Soo!"

"You still haven't answered my question." Yong Soo giggled.

The omega gradually broke down. Succumbing to the abrupt needs, Leon lunged at the alpha and climbed onto his lap. He straddled the Korean boy and slid down. A moan escaped his lips.

"I'm yours," he cried, his face digging into the other boy's shoulder. "I belong to you, okay?"

"That's more like it." Yong Soo shoved the omega back down on the mattress and rammed into him.

"Ah!" Leon groaned, seeing nothing but haze as the alpha pounded into him at a steadfast pace. The pleasure grew back in him. The pain ebbed away. He panted. It had been a while since he felt so fulfilled. So complete.

He came, releasing his seeds on the stomach. The alpha filled him with his load soon after. They lay next to each other panting.

"Now, now, don't look so mad. I haven't even said anything yet." Yong Soo snickered. Leon resisted the urge to punch him. Instead, he snuggled up against his partner and wheezed.

"I just want you to be honest da-ze."

"As if I really can't live without you." Leon grunted.

"If you already want to be a widow even before marriage, I don't mind."

The alpha laughed, draping a blanket over their naked bodies.

"Who the hell is, like, gonna marry a bastard like you?"

"Wow, watch it, sweet darling, I don't wanna bite your tongue."

"I would kill you, Yong Soo," Leon snarled. "If you weren't my mate."

"My honour da-ze~"

A smile formed on the omega's face as he relaxed and nodded off again.


	4. Reasons

**(14)**

"Leon! Breakfast's ready!" Yao yelled.

The boy quickly put on his socks, grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He hurried out of his bedroom and downstairs.

"Hurry up! You're gonna be late aru!" Yao urged, waving the pan in the air.

"Relax, love." Arthur sat languidly at the table reading news on his smartphone. "The lad is going to choke on his milk if you keep rushing him."

Leon guzzled down the milk and stole a slice of toast.

"Wait, are you leaving already?" Yao blinked at the food left on the plate. "You haven't even finished everything!"

"I'm not hungry," the boy muttered before sprinting out of the house.

"He's been eating so little…" Yao frowned. "And why aren't you worried at all?"

"Huh?" Arthur shrugged, still gazing at his phone. "But he looks like he's been gaining weight."

The last sentence rendered the couple in awkward silence. Finally registering his own speech, Arthur looked up at Yao, who stared back in astonishment.

Emil was already standing outside the gate. Leon waved and scurried to his friend.

"Sorry," he smiled. "I, like, overslept."

"Video games again?" Emil frowned.

"Why would he be interested in video games when he has me da-ze!"

The Korean boy exclaimed and hugged Leon from behind. The omega grumbled something and slipped out of Yong Soo's grip.

"Emil! You didn't tell me you left the house! I was supposed to pick you up on the porch!"

Emil rolled his eyes as Mathias ran to him. He quickly grabbed Leon's wrist and dragged him away from the other two.

"Let's go." Emil grunted. "I think my head is going to explode."

The two alphas pouted and followed their mates.

"To think that we used to walk to school alone," Emil muttered. "Just the two of us."

"Without, like, two annoying idiots behind." Leon nodded.

"That sounds like bliss to me now."

"We can hear you, you know" Mathias whined behind them.

The two omegas exchanged a glance. They snickered and deliberately quickened their pace.

Things got slightly complicated at school. Emil and Leon gave up trying to elude Mathias and Yong Soo. The two alphas proved to be extremely tenacious and possessive. They wouldn't let their omegas out of their sight at all. They followed them around all day long. Emil and Leon had to stop all the frivolous cuddling and flirtatious acts they used to exchange in the past in fear of their mates' jealousy. It was no fun irking the other two on purpose. It felt like someone else had suddenly manoeuvred his way into their relationships. They couldn't complain though because Mathias and Yong Soo were only conforming to their roles as alphas. It was the way things worked. At the end of the day, omegas would need to bond with alphas. Emil thought he wasn't as resistant to his identity as he used to be. He reckoned that he could still stay with Leon often.

What bothered Leon were the drastic changes on his body. Morning sicknesses weren't an issue now. He was always horny. When he was aroused, he had to resort to Yong Soo. The alpha didn't like the way he emitted pheromones whenever he was in need. They had to find secret places to tend to it. Leon pondered about his future once or twice. Every time he did, he ended up with a rather pessimistic outlook. He didn't want to get rid of the child but at the same time he felt like he was being forced to comply with how society's norms functioned. He felt restricted. And he still wasn't certain of this bittersweet relationship he shared with Yong Soo.

Sometimes, remnants of memories lingered. He couldn't help doubting if he was doing this to atone for his sin. Indeed, he felt guilty about what he did to Yong Soo in the past, but that didn't provide a sufficient reason for him to become his mate. Their bond was meant to last forever, until the day they died. He wasn't sure if he could entrust his entire life to Yong Soo, whose moods fluctuated a lot and whose personalities were still a total mystery.

He treated Leon unexpectedly nice though. It frightened the omega sometimes. Leon gave up trying to understand Yong Soo's mentality. At the moment, he only wanted to focus on studies.

He would be more than grateful if he could last till the next semester.

Ironically enough, he started craving for kimchi. He was never fond of that stuff but every day, he couldn't get away without consuming a mass of it. When he told Yao about this, his mother only blinked at him and asked if he had a fever.

Yong Soo took him out on dates. They went to theme parks and played games. They hiked, cycled, went to movies. They took a stroll on the beach, had dinner together, did most of the stuff normal couples did. Leon didn't hate it. He had done all these things with Emil before but it felt different doing them with Yong Soo. The alpha clung to him a lot, always showering him with affection. He would hug him in public, kiss him whenever he felt like to, fuck him senseless when he was horny. All these weren't what Leon had dreamt of his own relationship before. They were, nonetheless, satisfying.

The attachment grew. It wasn't something Leon could control. Once an omega finds his mate, he can't leave him. He's destined to serve and follow him. The tricky part was that he still had his own pride. He wouldn't admit his feelings forthrightly, even if they had been aching his heart for some time now.

Maybe he did like Yong Soo deep down. The opposite of love is not hatred, but indifference. And maybe Yong Soo was right. Everything he did was an act of oppressing his true natures. He just didn't want to submit himself to anyone. Picking on Yong Soo granted him a sense of superiority, something he would want to identify with because he used to yearn to be an alpha. That explained the hollowness when Yong Soo moved away. He thought it was disappointment, but actually, he had always been missing him.

Yong Soo understood him so much more than he understood himself.

* * *

 **(15)**

Arthur and Yao found out the truth in no time. They forced Leon to sit down and discuss with them. Leon stared at his parents with a completely blank mind.

"Leon, are you pregnant aru?"

The question struck him harder than he had expected. He would wish to fool himself a bit longer but well, his parents clearly weren't impressed.

"It's okay. We don't judge."

Arthur looked more composed than usual.

"I just want to know though," Yao paused and glimpsed Arthur. He had decided not to scold his son and accept the fact that he had already been old enough to make his own decisions. "Is he really the right mate for you?"

Leon blinked.

"What we're trying to say is," Yao rephrased solemnly, "this is a serious matter. When you have a child, you would need to think about the future. You will need to raise it and form a family. You won't be able to go back to your previous life. I thought you would want to continue your studies."

Leon didn't reply. His phone started vibrating in his pocket.

"Have you talked about this with him?" Arthur asked.

"What does he think?" Yao followed up sharply. "Is he going to stay with you? Will he take care of you? And where's his family?"

Leon forced himself not to react to the last word. **_Family._**

"Leon." Yao stood up and leant forward. Arthur held him back.

"I think that's pretty much enough. Don't bombard him anymore. Let the lad do his own thinking."

"We just…" Yao sighed and sat back down. "Either way, we support you. If you can't raise the kid alone, we'll help. Don't worry about your future. You can always continue your studies and well, get married later. Does that sound better aru?"

"I am, like, going to head out for a while." Leon stood up and checked his phone. "I'll be back by dinner."

"Leon, think for yourself!" Yao shouted after his son. "And don't strain your body too much."

Leon ran out of the house. He stopped on the street and quivered. His parents' questions swarmed in his head. His phone vibrated again.

"Hi, Emil, what's up?" he mumbled. "Yea, I'm, like, kinda free at the moment. Yea, sure, I'm, like, right outside my house. Okay, I'll get to the mall in ten minutes."

He hung up and took the shuttle bus to the town market. He met up with his friend outside the mall.

Emil was fidgeting. He wore an oversized cardigan. His hair was dishevelled and wet. He had probably just come out from a shower.

"What's wrong?" Leon asked, scanning around curiously. "Where's Mathias?"

"I need to talk to you." Emil looked up at Leon, his eyes shimmering with tears.

They settled down in a restaurant. Emil started unravelling his problem.

"I don't…know what to do." Emil's hands trembled. "I think…I'm pregnant."

"Um…actually…" Leon stuttered. He tried to calm himself with the drink. The lemonade tasted bitter.

"What should I do?" Emi sobbed, "If Lukas finds out, he's going to beat Mathias to a pulp."

"Is that the one thing you worry about?" Leon stifled a laugh.

"Stop it, it's not funny, Leon!" Emil blushed.

"Does Mathias know?"

"No, he's so thick-headed I give up trying to make hints." Emil grunted and stabbed his raspberry cream cake, smashing the pastry repeatedly into a mess. Leon stared at the poor cake, inwardly praying that he had taken a delicious bite earlier.

"You know, I'm, like, one month in." Leon coughed. "I think I have a bigger problem than you."

Emil's eyes widened. He dropped his fork.

"You aren't serious, are you?"

"Why would I, like, lie about something so serious?" Leon shrugged. "I was being interrogated by my parents just now. I don't know. I think I'll end up in a bigger mess than you."

"I don't want to quit school yet, Leon!" Emil whined and shook his friend's hands. "I heard that both Matthew and Kiku aren't gonna come back for a while because they're gonna give birth!"

"I don't think we have to quit yet," Leon said. "Actually, if my calculation is right, I believe we can, like, still graduate in time."

"And that's not the only problem."

"You should break the news to him. Like, straight away. No hinting or insinuation. You know Mathias is dense."

"It's embarrassing."

"But you're going to keep it, right?" Leon smiled.

"Of course…" Emil blushed and stared down at his still flat tummy. "I can't kill a precious life, can I?"

"You love him." Leon giggled.

"H-Hey!"

"And I'm glad for you."

Mathias was waiting at the mall entrance when they left. As soon as Emil spotted the Dane, he turned and tried to walk the other way.

"Emil, wait!" Mathias grabbed his mate and pulled him into a hug.

"Gosh, you're crushing me!" Emil cried and hit Mathias in the head. The alpha grunted but then his lips broke into a smile.

"What's happened to you?" Emil gasped at the bruises and blood stains on Mathias cheeks and collar.

"Never mind me! I'm so happy I can die right now." He swept the omega off ground and spun him. People stared and giggled.

"Put me down!" Emil blushed and squirmed. The Dane eventually put him down and laughed.

"You…you found out?"

"Of course, I did. I'm not stupid!"

"No, I think Lukas found out and told you." Emil narrowed his eyes. "And he beat you up."

Mathias pouted, rubbing the lump on his head.

"Geez, you're such a jerk."

"But you love this jerk." Mathias smirked and clasped Emil's wrist. "Let's go! We're paying a visit to the clinic."

"What? No! I'm not going!" Emil protested but the alpha's grip was firm and strong. He scooped him up and got him into the car he had parked outside the mall.

"W-Wait! If we're leaving, at least give Leon a lift!" Emil said, beckoning to Leon.

"Sure thing! Hop in! We should celebrate, you know!"

"No, I have something else to do." Leon chuckled and waved at Emil. "I'll, like, see you at school on Monday. Text or snapchat me, okay?"

"Are you sure you're fine on your own?"

"Yong Soo said he's coming." Leon nodded and glimpsed his phone. "I'll wait here. Bye, Emil."

The Dane drove off gleefully.

* * *

 **(16)**

Leon strolled down the street. He had lied. Yong Soo texted him but he didn't answer.

"Damn, I'm supposed to feel envious. He's just stolen my best friend." Leon chuckled to himself as he walked past the park. "But Emil looks so happy I guess I'll let it pass."

He stopped abruptly to watch the little ruckus near the slide. Three young boys were surrounding one of their peers, kicking him and pulling his hair.

"Show respect to us, you dirty nerd!"

"Yea, don't talk back to us!"

The three boys sneered and shoved the poor kid around. They smacked him and forced him to bend down on his knees. Leon frowned and ran towards the boys.

"Hey, you guys, like, shouldn't be doing that!" he snapped, separating the three boys from the bullied kid.

"And who are you!" one kid spat. Leon grabbed his fist in the air and glared at the boys.

"You aren't supposed to pick on others!"

"We do what we like!" a kid shouted and stuck out his tongue.

"He's a lowlife! He deserves to die!"

"Now stop that or I'll, like, call your parents!" Leon bawled.

"They won't do a thing about it!"

"Stop bullying others!" Leon yelped. "You'll, like, regret this in the future!"

The three boys snorted and ran away.

Leon bent down and leant out his hand to the shivering boy. The boy's glasses were broken. His body was covered in mud and bruises. He was wailing.

"Sh, it's okay now. They're gone," Leon reassured and helped the boy up. "Where are your parents?"

The boy continued to wail.

"Hey, kiddo, I'm asking you, are you, like, alone? Where are your parents?"

"Gone…" the boy whimpered and hugged Leon's waist. "No parents…"

Leon sighed. He stroked the kid's face and took his hand.

"Come on, let's clean you up first. I'll, like, get you to the police station."

Leon smiled and led the kid out of the park. He washed his wounds and patched him up. The kid looked so weak and defenceless for once it reminded him of Yong Soo.

It turned out that the kid's aunt was already at the police station filing a missing report. When the woman caught her nephew, she rushed to hug him and thank Leon.

Leon nodded and waved goodbye to the boy. He patted his head and grinned, "You know you shouldn't, like, let others pick on you again. Fight back next time."

He didn't know he would let his own words get to him. He couldn't stop thinking of Yong Soo as he walked away from the station.

"Was he always this helpless when I picked on him?" he wondered.

He would never know how many times he had bruised him, made him suffer and cry. When he pushed Yong Soo downstairs, what flooded the poor boy's mind was probably resentment and bleakness. When he was forced to switch school, what was he thinking? Was he thinking of tearing Leon apart? Killing him for hurting him so much?

Rain teemed down from the sky, blending with his tears. Ever since he met Yong Soo again, he had never been able to crawl out of this endless pit of guilt. Everything about Yong Soo reminded him of his past, of every deed he had committed and could never redeem enough for himself.

The phone vibrated again. He ignored Yong Soo's calls and walked on. He stumbled. He bit his lips to muffle his cries. He didn't want to face Yong Soo at the moment. He gasped when he bumped into someone. He mumbled a vague apology and kept his head down. The person grabbed his shoulders.

"Y-Yong Soo?" he gulped and staggered back. The scent was baffling and fiery. A bit like Yong Soo's. But that boy in front of him wasn't his mate. He did look an awful lot like Yong Soo though. It was the same childish face. The same pair of brown orbs. The same fair skin. His curl bent downwards, unlike Yong Soo's, which was always hanging up. His hair was apparently longer and was tied into a ponytail.

"Leon Kirkland?"

His voice was lower too.

"Who're you?" Leon frowned.

"Can I have a word with you?" There was something malicious about the boy's smile, but Leon was in no place to reject. The alpha clutched his hand and dragged him away.

"Where are you taking me?" Leon wiggled his wrist futilely. They kept walking down the lane. The boy eventually stopped in front of a white cottage. He shoved Leon into the house and slammed the door.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Take a seat, would you?" the boy grinned. "My name is Hyung Soo by the way."

"Are you-"

"Yes, I'm his brother. It's so nice to meet you, Leon." The boy chuckled and walked into the kitchen. "Sit, I'll prepare tea."

Leon lumbered to the sofa reluctantly. The house's interior looked similar to Yong Soo's cottage. It had the same gigantic TV set and coffee table in the sitting room, the same ancient décor and flower paintings on the wall. Even the layout was the same. If it hadn't been the slightly different scent occupying the room, he would've thought this was Yong Soo's place.

"There you go." Hyung Soo placed a cup of steaming tea in front of Leon.

"I've been looking for you for a while," the alpha admitted, crossing his legs with a smile.

"So, you're, like, Yong Soo's twin brother or something?" That was a silly question. He looked almost like Yong Soo's doppelganger.

"And I heard that you're his mate." Hyung Soo smirked.

Leon frowned. The tea tasted awful. Like some herbs or spices had been added.

"Which I don't think I'm quite happy about, dear."

Leon dropped the cup. His limbs went numb. The room started to spin. He coughed and collapsed on the sofa. In his last consciousness, he saw Hyung Soo stand up and loom towards him.

* * *

 **(17)**

Every joint of his body burnt with searing pain. Hyung Soo's kick landed on his hip hard. Blood stained the tiled floor. He crawled away from the alpha, panting.

"It's taken me some time to track you down." The intimidating voice echoed. Leon propped himself up with his elbows. His limbs were still numb. He dragged his body across the floor.

"When we were still living in that damn slum, he always came back home covered in bruises and dirt." Hyung Soo yanked the omega up and crushed him against the wall. "He never told us what happened. He would sneak some coins into his pockets. We thought he was stealing money to feed himself, but no, he never came back with a full stomach. Instead, he got wounds and blood. His clothes were always torn and cut. We could never mend his glasses fast enough because they broke the next day we fixed them. He would sob every night and refuse to go to school. We didn't know it was that bad until he tripped downstairs and broke his bones. He was never the same again."

Hyung Soo punched Leon in the chest. The omega grunted and fell to the ground.

"We let him go in the morning. He returned like a ragged doll in the evening. We couldn't do a thing about it because people like us couldn't oppose to the higher class. Like you."

Leon groaned. More blood spilled out of his mouth. He crawled towards the stairs.

"And you know what, I've always wanted to avenge him, my dearest brother. It took him years to recover, to finally get back to himself and look! Is he an idiot? How could he pick someone reprehensible like you as his mate?"

"S-Stop…" Leon coughed, putting up his hands to shield the blows. "Please…I'm, like, sorry!"

"'Sorry' isn't enough. Have you any idea what you did to our family? It's not just him. You destroyed our entire family!"

Leon whimpered. The alpha kicked him hard. He rolled downstairs, expecting to hit the concrete floor. He landed on something soft instead.

His eyes widened.

Yong Soo caught him and put him down gingerly. He dashed upstairs and tackled his brother in a flash. The two alphas fought and walloped each other.

"I'm gonna kill you da-ze!"

"Kill me?" Hyung Soo laughed. "For that insolent bastard?"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Yong Soo cried and punched his brother. They continued lunging at each other.

"Have you forgotten what he's done to you? To our family! Everything started because of him!"

"I don't need you to remind me!"

"He's the reason why you could never live like a normal person!"

"So? What does it have to do with you? You aren't doing this for me. You're doing this for your own entertainment, you sickening psycho!"

"I'm merely helping you! You were supposed to take revenge on him. Kill him. Not to mate with him!"

"I do what I want. You are NOT allowed to hurt him da-ze!" Yong Soo pinned his twin against the wall and snarled. "No one is allowed to hurt him except me! I'll kill you if you touch him again!"

"Are you fucking out of your mind?" Hyung Soo growled and shoved his brother back.

"Yes, I am and I don't need you to tell me what to do. You hurt me even more than he did!"

Hyung Soo burst into laughter.

"And you know you're more of the reasons why this family is broken da-ze," Yong Soo bellowed and raced downstairs. He wrapped his arms around Leon and picked him up.

"Im Yong Soo! You'll regret making him your mate!"

Yong Soo ignored his brother's yell and stormed out of the house.

 **oOo**

Pain shot up his spine. Leon opened his eyes. He was back in Yong Soo's room. The alpha squeezed his hand gently. He brushed his bangs and planted a soft kiss on his forehead.

He shuddered. Tears resurfaced his eyes. It ached. Not his body. But his heart. When he saw Yong Soo, he cried.

"You know half of what he said are lies da-ze," Yong Soo said, kissing the hand tenderly. "Please, forget about him. I'm sorry I didn't arrive earlier da-ze."

Leon opened his mouth but only sobs came out.

"Leon, focus on me, okay?" the alpha demanded and fondled those bruised cheeks. "Forget the past. Don't even think about it. We were both pretty messed up. It's the future that matters, right?"

"How could you…like…even…condone what I did…" Leon frowned. "Everything I did…even I couldn't forgive myself…"

"Forgiving is a way to let go da-ze." Yong Soo sighed. He bent down and laid his head on Leon's chest. "You aren't the only one who has hurt me. My family's hurt me more than you ever did."

Yong Soo shut his eyes and listened to the beating of Leon's heart.

"Let's not dwell on the past." The alpha smiled. "I've decided that it's best for us to look forward."

At that moment, Leon broke down. He had never felt this terrified before. There was a second he thought Yong Soo would never arrive. He would roll down the stairs and die right on the spot.

He deserved it anyway.

"Hey, hey, don't cry," Yong Soo whispered and held the omega's head against his chest. "Crying doesn't suit you da-ze."

"When I first met you after all these years…I thought…this was, like, the worst punishment God could've given me," Leon wept, his voice muffled by the other boy's shirt. "But…now I've finally realised…why you came back…I'm sorry…so sorry."

"I should apologise." Yong Soo sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I guess I went overboard too."

"Don't leave me."

"Never," the alpha mumbled and hugged his mate tighter.

* * *

 **(18)**

"Well, after my parents died, I got adopted by my uncle and aunt. They left this world a few years ago because of cancer. They left me their kimchi business and a big cottage. So yea, don't worry about it da-ze! I can take care of Leon without any problems!" Yong Soo shot his fist in the air confidently.

Leon rolled his eyes and took a sip of his milk tea.

They sat side by side, facing Arthur and Yao. The couple's mouths went agape as they glanced at Yong Soo.

"Is…something wrong?" Yong Soo blinked inquisitively at each of them.

"Aiya…I'm not really sure how this kimchi thing is going to work aru." Yao coughed and glared at Yong Soo. "I can't believe the one who bonded with my son is this…um…how do I say it…immature brat."

"I'm not immature da-ze! I'm a hundred percent reliable." Yong Soo beamed.

"Well, look on the bright side, there's hope on kimchi industry, love." Arthur patted Yao's shoulder. "Even if it doesn't work, at least this lad has a house to shelter Leon and the kid."

Yong Soo nodded eagerly. Leon grunted and took a big bite of the chicken leg. His craving had now shifted to Korean spicy meat.

"The bright side aru?" Yao gasped, "I can't let someone like this take my boy away! He looks like a kid himself!"

"I'm not a kid da-ze!" Yong Soo pouted childishly, hands on his hips.

"Yea, that totally accentuates my point aru," Yao grumbled. Arthur laughed.

"You know what, why don't we let them sort things out by themselves? I think it's an important part of life experience. Blundering is an essential element of growing up."

"But we're talking about raising kids and family here aru!"

"Why are you so worried? Don't you remember that when you had Leon, we were only fifteen at that time? Even younger than them!"

"That's not something I'm proud of aru." Yao blushed and looked away in exasperation.

"I think, like, we should end this discussion here," Leon piped up. "It's getting nowhere."

"Let me tell you, I'm not letting Leon live with you just yet." Yao pointed at Yong Soo and growled. "He's going to stay here until he's twenty. The kid as well."

"No problems," Yong Soo said instantly. "But I can visit him anytime I want, right?"

"I think it's more like you want to come over to scrounge Mum's dinner." Leon shot Yong Soo a disdainful look. He stood up and plodded upstairs.

"We've been meaning to ask you, actually," Arthur said. "How do you stand his attitudes sometimes? I'm not talking about the mood swing."

Yong Soo raised his eyebrows and laughed.

"It's love da-ze!"

The couple nodded and decided that maybe this boy wasn't too bad for Leon.

 **oOo**

"I'm coming in da-ze!" Yong Soo chuckled and barged into the room.

"There's, like, no point knocking if you're just gonna come in." Leon snorted, swiping his iPad. He curled up in his bed and slouched against piles of pillows. His room had been re-arranged to form a protective, comfy nest. Blankets stacked up and surrounded him. A lot of stuffed pandas had been bought for him to cuddle and he actually named each of them, much to Yong Soo's amusement.

"I just think the weather is so nice today we should totally go out!"

"I don't want to go out," Leon said, pretty much caught up in the game on his iPad.

"Then I should spend some quiet quality time with my wife!" The alpha jumped onto the bed and snuggled against the other boy.

"Okay, first of all, I'm not your wife. Secondly, you're, like, never quiet to begin with." Leon muttered. Yong Soo laughed and snaked his hand around the slight bulge on Leon's belly. He stroked it gently, feeling the curve and the soft skin. Leon twitched and growled, "What're you doing?"

"Feeling if it kicks?"

"Are you an idiot?"

"Oh wait! It does kick!" Yong Soo yelped. Leon grunted. The thing twirled slightly in his tummy. He wondered if Emil ever had this problem with Mathias. Yong Soo was so clingy and over-dramatic these days. Not that he was complaining.

"Because you wake her."

"How do you know it's a 'her'?"

"Intuition." Leon shrugged. "Or it's a 'he'. I don't know. Not that I care."

"Oh come on! You should act more enthusiastic!"

"Like how?" Leon giggled and put down his iPad. He turned to the Korean boy and pinched his cheeks. "Talk to it? Ask whether you're a boy or a girl?"

"That's it! We should talk to the baby. Don't you think?"

"I don't think it's, like, such a good idea. You know how unnerving your voice sounds."

"I don't believe it da-ze! My voice sounds beautiful!" Yong Soo exclaimed and kissed his mate. The omega laughed at the tickle and nestled his head on Yong Soo's shoulder.

"Leon, if you want to further your studies, go ahead," Yong Soo said after a long silence. "I trust that your parents can look after our kid alright da-ze."

"You mean it?"

"Yes!" the alpha nodded. "We should get back the time we've missed. We should go to school together. Hang out. Go on dates. Do everything normal couples do. We need that, don't we?"

"Yea, right." Leon grinned back.


	5. Always Together

**(19)**

The school let them take the final exams before Christmas so that they could end the semester and graduate earlier than everyone else. Emil and Leon spent most time at home after that. They had a whole gap year to decide what to do after their kids were born. It got lonely at some point because their mates were still at school. They took the liberty to prepare the Christmas decoration and shop for festive ingredients. Life was peaceful. They could hang out with each other every day and fool around. Somehow, being omegas didn't sound so frustrating to them anymore. Sure it came with responsibilities but there was also a carefree part of it.

"Leon! Stop eating the gingerbread!" Emil yelled, pulling his friend away from the Christmas treats. "You're eating up all the sweets even before the party starts!"

"Why, you're, like, so snappy today. Mood swing?" Leon ignored Emil and grabbed a handful of sweets.

"You're not any better!" Emil pinched him in the arm and dragged him to the little nest they formed near the couch.

"Now sit still, I'll take care of the rest. I can't entrust the food to you." Emil scolded, waving his hands in the air. Leon laughed and poked the other omega's belly. "I suggest you sit down with me. I don't think Mathias wants you to move around that much."

Blush tainted Emil's face as he tossed a pillow at Leon. He couldn't understand why Leon managed to keep his figure so well. His belly was showing quite obviously. It was always embarrassing for him to stare at himself in the mirror.

"Because I used to work out a lot," Leon taunted and continued chewing his gum. "That, like, matters too."

"So unfair."

Emil gave up trying to tidy up the room. He dumped all their shopping bags on the desk and retreated to the nest. He flopped down and snuggled up against Leon.

"Tired?"

"I didn't know it would wear me out this much," Emil grumbled, nuzzling against the other boy. Leon's skin was always warmer than his. It was comforting to be cuddling his best friend in the midst of cruel winter.

"I know. It sucks to be exhausted so easily. I, like, wanted to go hiking the other day but Yong Soo wouldn't take me out. He said I would probably get tired halfway up the hill and he had to carry me all the way home."

Emil laughed, "Sounds like he cares about you. I'm still very confused. How does that relationship thing work between you two? I thought you hate each other to death."

Leon shrugged and turned on the TV. A random comedy show was running on the channel.

"I don't hate him. I have, like, never hated him. I just loved picking on him when I was a kid." Leon lolled against the cushions idly and switched the channel. It was playing an African documentary.

"Wait," Emil creased his brows and contemplated for a long moment, "I still don't get it!"

"You don't have to." Leon laughed and leant against Emil. "It doesn't really matter. I kinda feel that the stuff between us is bound to be."

"This is so complicated." Emil snorted but relaxed into the entourage of pillows and duvets. Leon was not even watching the TV anymore. He stared up at the ceiling while running a hand through Emil's head of silvery hair. It looked whiter than usual.

Emil closed his eyes and basked in the soft touches. Time like this always reminded him of their blissful past together. Not that it wasn't blissful now. There were so many uncertainties ahead. So much to look forward to.

"Hey, like, do you think your child will have light blonde hair? It's gonna be so pretty. Just like the snow out there."

Emil glimpsed the snow outside the window.

"Listen, Leon, I'm not gonna lie, but don't laugh at me." Emil smiled and looked up, placing both palms on Leon's cheeks.

"Yea?"

"You're gonna tease me, I'm sure."

"That, like, depends on what you're going to say." Leon chuckled.

"I once dreamt of how things would've been different if you were an alpha, and what it would be like to be having your child. That's so silly, right? I had that awful thought during one of my heats."

"I think that's a pretty nice dream." Leon laughed.

"I told you not to laugh!" Emil blushed and slapped his friend lightly.

"But don't you think things are better this way?" Leon smiled, "I might not have turned out as a good mate as you think."

"You're right." Emil nodded and shut his eyes again. "I like how things are between us now. I guess we wouldn't be equal if you were an alpha."

"You're, like, the last person I want to hurt. Remember that."

"Think our kids will be best friends?" Emil perked up.

"Sure, why not."

"Even better, if they turn out to be different types, they should be together."

"Woah, you're thinking way too ahead." Leon laughed. "I'd love to see that happen though."

"I'm so tired." Emil yawned, slumping down to lay his head on Leon's lap. He nuzzled the slight lump on the other boy's belly.

"Sleep then, I'll, like, wake you up for dinner."

"Sleep with me," Emil cooed. "They'll wake us up later."

When the two alphas returned from school, the room was dark and quiet.

"I thought we were having a party?" Mathias walked over to the table and examined the mess.

Yong Soo put down his bag on a chair and picked up some glittery decorations scattering on the floor. The Christmas tree was half done. He stood over the nest and peered down at the two snoozing omegas. Leon was nestling on a big downy cushion. Emil was snuggling up against him.

"Should I feel disturbed or relieved by this?" Yong Soo quipped. Mathias walked over quietly and chuckled when he saw the two boys tangled lovingly among the blankets.

"If he didn't happen to be your mate, I'd have killed him," Mathis joked.

"Same here da-ze." Yong Soo laughed softly.

"Let's order take-away."

* * *

 **(20)**

The park was covered in snow. The pond had frozen. The sky was a beautiful blue. Leon sat tranquilly on the bench. They had come out for another festive shopping. Emil and Mathias had driven off to pick up some presents.

He waited in the park with Yong Soo.

The alpha was playing with a stray dog. He stroked its back and fed it some dog's food he had bought from a nearby pet store.

"You know," Leon piped up. His breath turned into frost. Yong Soo noticed this. He patted the dog and stood up. He went over to his mate and draped his own jacket around him. "It's cold out here da-ze. Do you want to get indoors?"

"No, I want to ask you something," Leon said. "You've never told me much about your family."

Yong Soo returned to stroking the little animal.

"You, like, don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Leon added, rubbing his gloved hands.

"What do you want to know?" Yong Soo smiled. "There's so much I can't possibly tell you everything da-ze."

"I don't know…anything you're comfortable with telling me." Leon averted his gaze. "I just realised that…I have never tried to understand you or anything. I, like, wanna know more about you at least, since you're now my mate."

"They never cared much about me," Yong Soo said. "We were poor. Thought you knew that already da-ze. My dad was an alcoholic. My mum was a prostitute. We lived in a slum. My brother was a bit…mentally unstable. I was left alone most of the time."

Leon nodded. He remembered Yong Soo coming to school every day in ragged clothes, broken lens and meagre food. The boy never had enough stationeries to write and shoes to wear.

"My family was always in some big debts. They never talked to me much. Actually, they wouldn't care what I did." Yong Soo chuckled as the dog bounced on him and licked his hand. "Anyway, if I told you that you were the only one who actually bothered to talk to me during those days, would you feel better?"

Leon gasped. His hands shivered. He wasn't sure if it was the cold or Yong Soo's gleaming eyes.

"At least you noticed me," Yong Soo continued. "Even though you picked on me a lot, you recognised my presence. I would rather be hated than ignored."

"I was wrong," Leon said. "Everything I did. I was, like, too young to realise that."

"You have a nice family, Leon. You have a best friend who cares enough to stand up for you. You have stuff I don't have. But what I want most is you, because we're more or less the same. In case you haven't noticed."

Yong Soo strode back to the bench and sat down.

"You just need someone to tame you da-ze!" the alpha said. "To convince you that you're needed. You used to please everyone around you, but you wanted more than that. Than being such a goody goody. Attention. Contradiction. I think we're both twisted to the core. Doesn't that make us compatible da-ze?"  
Leon hit Yong Soo in the head. The alpha laughed and pulled his mate into a kiss.

"What about your brother? He looked like he wanted to kill me so badly."

"He has always thought I was an ordeal in the family. He never cared about me. That's why I said what he told you were probably lies. He just wanted to fuck things up for me after finding out that I had a mate."

"I can't believe Korean melodrama really exists in real life." Leon shook his head.

"So, what else do you want to know?"

"How you became this suave." Leon snickered, tracing his fingers along the other's jaw and hair. "You, like, scared the hell out of me when you first transferred back to our school."

"You ever watched those drama shows where a stray boy turned into a prince or something?"

"Cliché."

"My life is a cliché da-ze." Yong Soo beamed. "Simple. My uncle and aunt offered me a better life. They bought me new clothes and sent me to a nice school. I did a transformation on my looks. Ta-da! Impressive, aren't I?"

"I'm not gonna compliment you further than that." Leon snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Aw, you're totally impressed da-ze!" Yong Soo exclaimed and wrapped his arms around the omega tightly.

 **oOo**

Arthur leant against the railing and took a long drag of the cigarette. Yong Soo stepped onto the balcony and stood behind the other alpha.

"He's asleep," Yong Soo said.

Arthur puffed, "Good. So, how is it going?"

"Perfect da-ze!" Yong Soo grinned widely. "Thanks for everything, Mr. Kirkland."

"Don't thank me. You did me a favour, actually." Arthur frowned and looked to the dark, starless sky. "I knew he would take after his mother. Feisty. Unyielding. Out of control. Yao and I had no idea how to handle this boy. It's our fault. We spoiled him too much in his childhood."

"I think that's what makes him adorable da-ze."

"I'm sorry for what my boy did to you in the past." Arthur sighed.

"Nah, I should apologise. I went overboard a bit with my act too. I made him too guilty."

"You didn't. That's exactly what I wanted. He needs to be tamed and disciplined. He needs to accept his identity or else he will never be able to survive in this society. He needs someone who can show him other perspectives. His mother and I both couldn't bear to reprimand him whenever he made a mistake. He needs to know that things don't always go his way."

Yong Soo took a deep breath and fiddled with his hands.

"When I was hospitalised, you were the only person who came to visit," the Korean boy said. "Even my own parents abandoned me. I've never expressed my gratitude for your encouragement."

"I told you to grow stronger and become someone distinguished so that people wouldn't look down on you. I told you to return in due course. And guess what?" Arthur grinned. "I'm proud of what I see today. You didn't disappoint me, lad."

"Are you sure this is okay?" Yong Soo frowned. "Don't you think you're sort of betraying Leon?"

"It's for his own good, champ. I don't think anyone else is more suitable for him than you."

"Thanks." Yong Soo smiled. "I'll take good care of him."

* * *

 **(21)**

The first wave of pain struck at dinner. It felt like someone was scrunching and squeezing his insides. The throbbing subsided for a second before it hit him harder. Leon dropped the chopsticks and plates to clutch his abdomen.

"Leon?" Yong Soo's voice echoed, but it wasn't the sole sound. A clatter came from the kitchen. Yao popped his head out worriedly still with a wok in his hand. A chair was knocked down.

Arthur was at work. Yao dashed to his son. Leon didn't cry. He bore with the pain in silence. He shot Yong Soo an urgent stare.

"It's…coming out."

The other two men blanched. Yao rushed over to take the coats. Yong Soo scooped his mate up and left for the car. Yao shut the door and followed them into the passenger seats. As Yong Soo started the engine, Yao made a call to his husband.

"Hold on aru," Yao reassured, brushing Leon's bangs to wipe his sweat. The omega stayed mute. He bit his bottom lip and leant against the window.

"It's going to be fine da-ze!"

"Shut the fuck up and drive me to the hospital. NOW!" Leon yelled. Pain returned and he grunted, leaning against Yao.

Yong Soo drove faster, his heart pounding hysterically. They arrived at the hospital at ten. Leon was rushed into a room. It took hours. All this time, the omega felt nothing but pain. It felt worse than tripping downstairs and breaking the bones. Sweat drenched his face. He thought this was the worst kind of revenge Yong Soo could have taken. He squeezed his mate's hand hard, not caring if he whined and complained about the bruise later. He even bit Yong Soo's hand just to show that he was never ever going to have another child again. Yong Soo chuckled quietly and stayed beside Leon, whispering into his ears and showering his forehead with kisses. Leon held back the tears and clenched his eyes. He thought he might take back his words about being omega was okay. It still sucks to hell!

The girl was born past midnight. Fair skin. Dark eyes. Raven curls. She let out the first cry. Leon thought he could sleep for the next twelve hours straight.

When he woke up again, he was lying in bed. Yong Soo was still holding his hand. He grunted and managed to sit up without hissing in pain.

"It's a very beautiful child." Arthur smiled.

Leon held out his hands. Yao handed him the bundle. He stared at the little girl silently.

"I told you our child is gonna be super beautiful da-ze!"

Leon glared at Yong Soo before pinching his ear.

"Ouch! What's that for!" Yong Soo feigned a whine.

"It's fucking painful, jerk. I'm, like, never ever gonna let you knot me again!"

"That's so unfair!" the alpha cried.

The child let out a chuckle and opened her dark brown eyes. She blinked at her parents for the first time.

"Okay, you win. She's really cute." Leon giggled and couldn't help scanning around. "Where's Emil?"

Yong Soo rolled his eyes. "Is this the first thing you have to inquire right after your labour?"

Leon tittered at Yong Soo's envious expression.

"Come on, I can't, like, believe my best friend isn't here to celebrate the birth of our child."

"He went into labour last night too," Yong Soo smiled.

"What?" Leon gasped. "Where's he?"

"Geez, I'm right here."

A grunt wafted out from the other side of the room. Leon turned. A hand drew the curtain separating their beds. An exhausted Emil leant against the pillow and snickered, "I told you it's gonna hurt like hell."

"I bet you cried."

"No, I didn't!" Emil blushed.

"He bit me." Mathias laughed and held up his bruised hand.

"Wanna compare da-ze?" Yong Soo held up a redder hand.

The all burst into laughter.

* * *

 **(22)**

"Aiyah!" Yao shook his head. The room was in disarray. A table was turned over in one corner. Cream sputtered on the TV screen. Bowls of cereals were spilled on the ground. Curtains were torn down. Two three-year-olds were chasing each other around the couch, climbing up and down, yelling and laughing.

"What? What's going on?" Arthur stumbled out of his bedroom rubbing his temples. The migraine got worse as he heard the loud chattering noise downstairs.

"I can't believe I'm doing this aru! Why did I even agree to babysit them!" Yao cried and picked up the cushions. "Oh no, Leona! Stop ripping the doll! Stop right there, Eiríkur! No, no no! Don't break the vase! I'm gonna spank you!"

The kids grimaced and ran towards Arthur. They jumped on him and tackled him to the ground.

"Ouch! Ouch! Stop pulling my eyebrows! Damn it!"

"Arthur! Your language aru!"

"Help me, Yao! Stop these two devils before they pluck my eyebrows out!"

"I'm too busy tidying things up. Help me distract them for a minute aru!" Yao shouted back.

"Oh Lord, no, no, no, don't do that! Hey! Stop pulling my hair!" Arthur cried, trying to get the two evil kids off him. "Where are they!"

"Off to school aru! They won't be back by four!" Yao quickly grabbed a broom and swept the food crumbs on the floor.

"This is totally an irresponsible behaviour!"

"You were the one who asked them to leave the kids to us until they graduate from college aru! Don't you forget that!"

"I asked the lads to leave the kids to you, not me!" Arthur yelled back.

Yao growled and stomped towards his mate.

"W-Wait, Yao, what are you-"

He smacked Arthur with the broom. The kids laughed.

"Come on, let's get you two dressed up for school first aru."

Yao picked up the two kids and hurried into the nursery room.

Arthur propped himself up and rubbed the lump on his head, inwardly praying that he wouldn't be the one to drive the kids to playgroups later.

 **oOo**

"I, like, have a feeling that they're tormenting Arthur at the moment." Leon slipped a packet of gums to Emil under the table.

"Well, is it time for playgroups already?" Emil glimpsed his watch and tore open the packet. "Oh so, it is."

"I'm sorry to bother your parents," Emil said. "My parents are so damn busy taking care of Lukas' two kids. He and Michaela are both away on business trips."

"It's, like, fine. Mum likes kids. He never gets tired of them. He's the one who volunteered to look after Kiku's and Mei's kids as well."

"Kiku's drawing manga again." Emil looked over to the Japanese boy bending over the table in the front row. Mei sat beside him checking her make-up with a mirror.

Leon glanced at the unreadable notes on the board. The lecturer was speaking in long and complicated chunks. He didn't seem to care that the lecture room was half-emptied and 90% of those present were not listening.

"Look, Matthew is making out with Francis in the back seat!" Emil hissed, tapping Leon's shoulder eagerly.

"Emil, when have you, like, turned into another Mei?" Leon smirked. "You two have been hanging out too much lately."

"S-Shut up. She has some real tips on handling kids. Unlike you."

"Like I said, Yong Soo and I both believe that it's better for kids to run wild."

"They're turning delinquents at this rate."

"Emil, they're already delinquents," Leon reminded and tickled the other boy. "And we're still delinquents."

Emil laughed and tossed a pen at his friend.

"Hey, wanna, like, do something exciting after school?"

"Like what?"

Leon glanced around and snickered. He leant over to Emil's ear.

"Let's run off and have a secret date on our own."

"You want to leave the kids to Mathias and Yong Soo?" Emil widened his eyes. "It's gonna be a disaster. If they ever find out we're doing this on purpose, they'll be so, so mad."

"Now, now, Emil, that's, like, the fun part of our relationships. Yong Soo thinks he can control me, but I beg to differ."

"I can't believe until this day you're still picking on him!" Emil giggled.

"I love him." Leon guffawed. "But I love picking on him more. And I know you feel just the same with Mathias."

"Okay." Emil grinned. "When does our date start?"

"Right after this lecture." Leon winked and tapped his watch.

"Cheeky."

"But you like it."

The two omegas laughed.

They were lucky their mates were taking different courses in the next building.


End file.
